| Thibaut et al. (2015)
Belgium
RCT
PEDro=4
N=17 |
Population: TBI=7, Anoxia=5, Aneurysm=5; Mean Age=41yr; Gender: Male=9, Female=8; Mean Time Post Injury=35mo; Severity: Severe.
Intervention: Participants were randomized to receive one of the following exercise protocols on each of their upper limbs: manual stretching and control (no Intervention) (G1, n=8), soft splinting and control (G2, n=12), or soft splinting and manual stretching (G3, n=14). Each exercise was done for 30min followed by a 60min break. Outcomes were assessed before (T1) and after (T2) each protocol, and after each break (T3).
Outcome Measures: Modified Ashworth Scale (MAS), Modified Tardieu Scale (MTS), Range of Motion (ROM), and Hand Opening (HO). |
1. In G1, there were no significant changes in MAS, MTS, ROM, or HO after stretching or after the control protocol.
2. In G2, the mean MAS score of flinger flexor muscles improved significantly after splinting from T1 to T2 (p=0.014) and the improvement was maintained at T3 (p=0.022). There was no significant change for the control.
3. In G3, the mean MAS score of finger flexor muscles improved significantly after both splinting (p=0.014) and stretching (p=0.022) from T1 to T2, but neither improvement was maintained at T3.
4. In G2, the mean HO score improved significantly after splinting from T1 to T2 (p=0.009), but the improvement was not maintained at T3. There was no significant change for the control.
5. In G3, the mean HO score improved significantly after splinting (p=0.005) from T1 to T2, but the improvement was not maintained at T3. There was no significant change in mean HO score after stretching (p=0.249).
6. In G3 and G2, there were no significant changes in MTS or ROM after the interventions. |
