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Updated: Apr 26, 2026
Determining the Functional Status of the Corticospinal Tract Within One Week of Stroke
Published on: February 22, 2020
The effectiveness of functional electrical stimulation based on a normal gait pattern on subjects with early stroke:
Zhimei Tan1, Huihua Liu2, Tiebin Yan2
1Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, 107 Yanjiang West Road, Guangzhou 510120, China ; Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, 1 Jianshe East Road, Zhengzhou, China.
Objective:
To investigate the effectiveness of four-channel FES based on a normal gait pattern on improving functional ability in subjects early after ischemic stroke.
Methods:
Forty-five subjects were randomly assigned into a four-channel FES group (n=16), a placebo group (n=15), or a dual-channel group (n=14). Stimulation lasted for 30 min in each session with 1 session/day, 5 days a week for 3 weeks. All subjects were assessed at baseline, at 3 weeks of treatment, and at 3 months after the treatment had finished. The assessments included Fugl-Meyer Assessment (FMA), the Postural Assessment Scale for Stroke Patients (PASS), Berg Balance Scale (BBS), Functional Ambulation Category (FAC), and the Modified Barthel Index (MBI).
Results:
All 3 groups demonstrated significant improvements in all outcome measurements from pre- to posttreatment and further gains at followup. The score of FMA and MBI improved significantly in the four-channel group at the end of the 3 weeks of training. And the scores of PASS, BBS, MBI, and FAC in the four-channel group were significantly higher than those of the placebo group.
Conclusions:
This study indicated that four-channel FES can improve motor function, balance, walking ability, and performance of activities of daily living in subjects with early ischemic stroke.
