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Efficacy of whole-body vibration on balance control, postural stability, and mobility after thermal burn injuries: A
Nabil Mahmoud Abdel-Aal1, Nesma M Allam2, Hadaya Mosaad Eladl2
1Department of Physical Therapy for Basic Sciences, Faculty of Physical Therapy, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt.
Objective:
To investigate the additive effects of whole-body vibration (WBV) training to the traditional physical therapy program (TPTP) on balance control, postural stability, and mobility after thermal burn injuries.
Design:
A single-blinded, randomized controlled study.
Setting:
Outpatient physical therapy setting.
Participants:
Forty participants, 20-45 years old, with deep second-degree thermal burn involving the lower limbs and trunk, with 35%-40% total body service area, were randomly allocated either into the study group or the control group.
Intervention:
The study group received WBV plus TPTP while the control group received the TPTP only. Interventions were applied three sessions a week for eight weeks.
Outcome Measures:
Anteroposterior stability index (APSI), mediolateral stability index (MLSI), overall stability index (OSI), timed-up and go (TUG), and Berg balance scale (BBS) were measured at baseline and after eight weeks of interventions.
Results:
There were statistically significant differences in APSI, MLSI, OSI, BBS, and TUG in favor of the WBV group after eight weeks of intervention (P < 0.001). After eight weeks of intervention, the mean (SD) for APSI, MLSI, OSI, BBS, and TUG scores were 1.87 ± 0.51, 41.36 ± 0.18, 1.95 ± 0.56, 47.2 ± 6.12, and 8.15 ± 1.05 seconds in the WBV group, and 2.41 ± 0.71, 2.21 ± 0.54, 2.68 ± 0.73, 40.65 ± 4.7, and 10.95 ± 2.44 seconds in the control group, respectively.
Conclusions:
The whole-body vibration training combined with the TPTP was more beneficial in improving APS, MLS, OSI, TUG, and BBS than TPTP alone. It might be considered a useful adjunctive therapy in treating patients with healed wounds with a deep second-degree burn of the trunk and lower limbs.
