A new definition of poststroke spasticity and the interference of spasticity with motor recovery from acute to chronic stages

Defining it differently does absolutely nothing to get survivors cured of spasticity. Useless.

 A new definition of poststroke spasticity and the interference of spasticity with motor recovery from acute to chronic stages

Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair (NNR) , Volume 35(7) , Pgs. 601-610.

NARIC Accession Number: J86910.  What's this?
ISSN: 1545-9683.
Author(s): Li, Sheng ; Francisco, Gerard E. ; Rymer, W. Zev.
Publication Year: 2021.
Number of Pages: 10.

Abstract: 

Article examines the relationship between poststroke spasticity and motor recovery. “True” motor recovery refers to return of motor behaviors to pre-stroke state with the same end-effectors and temporo-spatial pattern. This requires neural recovery and repair, and presumably occurs mainly in the acute and subacute stages. However, according to the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health, motor recovery after stroke is also defined as “improvement in performance of functional tasks,” i.e., functional recovery, which is mainly mediated by compensatory mechanisms. Therefore, stroke survivors can execute motor tasks despite disordered motor control and the presence of spasticity. The authors assert that spasticity results from upregulation of medial cortico-reticulospinal pathways that are disinhibited due to damage of the motor cortex or corticobulbar pathways. Spasticity emerges as a manifestation of maladaptive plasticity in the early stages of recovery and can persist into the chronic stage. It coexists and shares similar pathophysiological processes with related motor impairments, such as abnormal force control, muscle coactivation and motor synergies, and diffuse interlimb muscle activation. Accordingly, the authors propose a new definition of spasticity to better account for its pathophysiology and the complex nuances of different definitions of motor recovery.
Descriptor Terms: HEALTH PROMOTION, MOTOR SKILLS, MUSCULAR IMPAIRMENTS, OUTCOMES, SPASTICITY, STROKE.


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Citation: Li, Sheng , Francisco, Gerard E. , Rymer, W. Zev. (2021). A new definition of poststroke spasticity and the interference of spasticity with motor recovery from acute to chronic stages.  Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair (NNR) , 35(7), Pgs. 601-610. Retrieved 9/26/2021, from REHABDATA database.