[Electrical stimulation in the treatment of the spastic hemiplegic hand after stroke: a randomized study]

It has been claimed that neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) may enhance hand motor recovery after a stroke. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of an electrostimulation protocol on range of motion and strength of the hand in a group of elderly patients with spastic hemiplegia after a stroke.

20 elderly patients 60 years old and over with hand impairment due to stroke were randomly assigned to either the experimental group (conventional rehabilitation and NMES) or control group (conventional rehabilitation). NMES was applied on wrist and finger extensors 30 min 3 days/week for 8 weeks. Outcome measurements included goniometry and dynamometry tests. The patients were evaluated at baseline, after 4 and 8 weeks of treatment.

After the treatment, the experimental group showed significant improvements (p<0,05) in range of motion: resting wrist angle, active wrist extension, passive wrist extension and resting metacarpophalangeal angle of fingers; and strength of hand: grip and pinch strength.

The observed changes seem to be associated with the presence of intervention and they suggest that the NMES protocol applied could be a useful complementary rehabilitation treatment to improve hand motor impairment in carefully selected patients after a stroke.