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Europa Medicophysica 2002 December;38(4):195-202

Copyright © 2002 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Functional electrical stimulation of the upper limb in poststroke adult rehabilitation

Cisari C. ¹, Carda S. ²

¹ U.O.A. Recupero e Rieducazione Funzionale A.O. “Maggiore della Carità”, Novara, Italy 2 Scuola di Specializzazione Medicina Fisica e Riabilitazione Università degli Studi di Torino, Torino, Italy

In the field of hemiplegic patient’s rehabilitation, despite efforts carried out mainly in the last years, no demonstration is yet available about superiority of a rehabilitative technique versus another one. Howe-ver, a growing number of papers has progressively put in evidence how, among various therapeutical options, functional electrical stimulation (FES) may lead to positive results, until being able to be considered one of the most effective treatment that can be added in a rehabilitative program of stroke patients. However, a lot of physiatrists still wrongly believe that FES can be useless and also potentially dangerous, carrying the risk of producing or increasing spastic hypertonia. The aim of this work is to present the clinical and practical aspects of FES in the treatment of hemiplegic shoulder, wrist and finger extensor muscles and the most recent applications of EMG-Biofeedback with FES are mainly considered. Some aspects of FES-induced motor recovery theory are also discussed.