Article

The purpose was to test the effect of robot-assisted gait therapy with
the Lokomat system in one representative individual with Parkinson's disease (PD). METHODS: The patient was a 67-year-old female with more than an 8-year
history of PD. The manifestations of the disease included depressive mood with
lack of motivation, moderate bradykinesia, rigidity and resting tremor, both
involving more the right side of the body, slow and shuffling gait with episodes
of freezing and risk of falling. The patient underwent six sessions of
robot-assisted gait training. The practice included treadmill walking at variable
speed for 25-40 min with a partial body weight support and assistance from the Lokomat orthosis. RESULTS: After the therapy, the patient increased the gait
speed, stride length and foot clearance during over ground walking. She reduced
the time required to complete a 180 degrees turn and the latency of gait
initiation. Improvements were observed in some items of the Unified Parkinson's
Disease Rating Scale including motivation, bradykinesia, rigidity, freezing, leg
agility, gait and posture. CONCLUSIONS: Although the results supported the
feasibility of using robot-assisted gait therapy in the rehabilitation an
individual with PD, further studies are needed to assess a potential advantage of
the Lokomat system over conventional locomotor training for this population.

Langue : ANGLAIS