Article

To determine the effectiveness of mirror therapy and electromyography
(EMG)-triggered neuromuscular stimulation on improvement of functions of the
upper extremity in patients with subacute stroke in comparison with conventional
therapy as well as to evaluate the advantage of each treatment over another, we
conducted a prospective, randomized, and controlled trial involving 24 patients
with ischemic stroke. The mean age and mean time since stroke of the patients
were 58.79+/-11.49 years and 5.25+/-2.25 months. Patients were assigned randomly
to a mirror therapy group (MT group, n=9), which consisted of therapy with a
mirror box 5 days/week, 30 min/day, for 3 weeks, an electrostimulation group (ES
group, n=7), which consisted of therapy with EMG-triggered stimulation (EMG-stim)
of similar duration and frequency of treatment as the MT group, and a control
group (n=8). All the groups received conventional physiotherapy for the same
period as the MT group. Patients in the MT group practiced their therapy at home
after supervised sessions. The Fugl-Meyer scores of the upper extremity, grip
force, wrist extension, and Box and Block Test were evaluated at baseline, after
treatment, and at 3 months after the treatment. All of these measures were
evaluated by a blinded researcher. We found that there was no significant
improvement in wrist extension range and grip force in control group. The MT and
EMG-stim were effective in increasing the Fugl-Meyer motor scale for upper
extremity (MT group: P<0.01), increasing wrist extension range, grip force, and
hand dexterity determined by the Box and Block Test (MT group and ES group
P<0.05). Furthermore, hand skills were increased significantly in the MT group
compared with the ES group at the follow-up assessment (P<0.05). This pilot study
suggested that MT was more efficient in improving motor performance than
physiotherapy alone. Also, MT may be more useful in improving the hand skills
compared with EMG-stim. We assume that this difference might be related to the
feasibility of maintenance of MT at home.
- Thérapie en miroir

Langue : ANGLAIS