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Muscle response to heavy resistance exercise in children with spastic cerebral palsy
D L Damiano1, C L Vaughan, M F Abel
1Motion Analysis Laboratory, University of Virginia, Charlottesville 22903, USA.
Insights
Weight-training significantly improved quadriceps strength in children with spastic diplegia, reducing knee crouch gait. This resistance exercise approach may aid in cerebral palsy treatment.
Area of Science:
- Neurology
- Orthopedics
- Physical Therapy
Background:
- Spastic diplegia, a form of cerebral palsy, often leads to muscle weakness and gait abnormalities like knee crouch.
- Quadriceps weakness is a contributing factor to the crouch gait observed in children with cerebral palsy.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the effectiveness of a bilateral quadriceps strengthening program in reducing knee crouch during gait in ambulatory children with spastic diplegia.
- To compare muscle strength in children with cerebral palsy to a normal control group.
Main Methods:
- Fourteen ambulatory children with spastic diplegia underwent a six-week program of thrice-weekly resistance exercise using ankle weights at 65% of maximum load.
- Muscle strength was assessed at three knee flexion angles.
- A control group of 25 typically developing children was tested under identical conditions.
Main Results:
- Children with cerebral palsy exhibited significantly weaker quadriceps and hamstring muscles compared to controls.
- The quadriceps strengthening program resulted in significant strength gains at all tested knee flexion angles.
- Post-intervention, quadriceps strength in the children with cerebral palsy no longer differed statistically from that of the normal control group.
Conclusions:
- Quadriceps weakness is a significant factor contributing to crouch gait in spastic diplegia.
- Resistance exercise, specifically quadriceps strengthening, can effectively improve muscle strength in children with cerebral palsy.
- Restoring quadriceps strength through exercise may serve as a valuable complementary treatment for managing crouch gait in cerebral palsy.
Abstract:
Fourteen ambulatory children with spastic diplegia participated in a bilateral quadriceps strengthening program in an attempt to decrease the amount of knee crouch during gait. Each child exercised three times a week for six weeks using free ankle weights at a load of 65 per cent of maximum. A normal comparison group of 25 children was also tested under identical conditions. Children with cerebral palsy were significantly weaker in the quadriceps and hamstrings muscle groups than controls. Quadriceps strength increased significantly at all three angles of knee flexion as a result of the weight-training program and did not differ statistically from normal at the end of the program. Quadriceps weakness was shown to be a factor in crouch gait; restoring strength through resistance exercise may be a useful adjunct in the treatment of cerebral palsy.