Modern approach to gait restoration in patients in the acute period of cerebral stroke

• Published in: Zhurnal nevrologii i psikhiatrii imeni S.S. Korsakova Vol. 110; no. 4; p. 25
• Main Authors: Skvortsova, V I, Ivanova, G E, Rumiantseva, N A, Staritsyn, A N, Kovrazhkina, E A, Suvorov, A Iu
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Russian
• Published: Russia (Federation) 2010
• Subjects: Aged; Exercise Therapy - instrumentation; Exercise Therapy - methods; Female; Gait - physiology; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Postural Balance; Robotics - instrumentation; Stroke - physiopathology; Stroke Rehabilitation; Treatment Outcome; Walking
• ISSN: 1997-7298

An objective of the study was to work out a complex program of gait restoration in patients with stroke using robot-driven mechanized gait trainers. The study included patients in the acute period of stroke (the mean age 59+/-10,4 years) who were not able to walk without assistance; 53 patients of the main group and 25 patients of the control group. The mean interval from the disease onset to the beginning of gait retraining sessions with mechanized gait trainers was 14+/-1,6 days depending on the adequacy of functional probes. The restoration program included everyday 30 minute sessions of exercise therapy. Patients of the main group received 20 min sessions using mechanized gait trainers Motomed Viva 2 and Gait Trainer 1 (GT1) with continuous monitoring of blood pressure and cardiac beat frequency. The number of sessions with GT1 was from 5 to 12, mean 7+/-1 sessions. After the complex restoration treatment, significant positive changes on scales of standing balance, functional categories of gait, Berg, Barthel (p< or =0.01) were observed in patients of the main group compared to controls. All patients of the main group became able to walk with a support or independently. The significant decrease (p< or =0.05) of a number of patients with disorders of proprioceptive sensitivity (from 37,7 to 9,4%) and with ataxia of the low extremities (from 37 to 11,3%) was observed in the main group, while no changes were seen in the control group. It has been concluded that the complex use of reflex kinesitherapy and robot-driven mechanotherapy in patients in the acute period of stroke allows to increase the functional activity and the level of self-service already prior to the discharge from hospital.