Nerve electrophysiology and hemiplegic upper-limb function with robot-assisted training on upper-limb in stroke patients

Objective To observe the rehabilitation efficacy of stroke patients with robot-assisted training including upper limb function and nerve conduction velocity. Methods Sixty cases were randomized into control group and experiment group,thirty cases in each group. The control group was given conventional upper-limb function training,including physical therapy( PT) and occupational therapy( OT),while the experiment group was given conventional upper-limb function training and robot-assisted training for upper-limb. The patients in both groups were treated for thirty minutes once a day,five times a week,with four weeks as one period of treatment. Assessments were made among patients before training,two weeks and four weeks after training,including shoulder,elbow,wrist range of motor( ROM) and hand grip strength,Lindmark scores,nerve conduction velocity( NCV) of the upper-limb. Results Before training,there were no statistical differences in the shoulder,elbow,wrist ROM,hand grip strength,NCV and Lindmark scores of the upper-limb between the two groups( P 0. 05),but four weeks after training,the experiment group gained better scores than the control group( P 0. 05),and some scores had improved significantly( P 0. 01). The experiment group was better than the control group in the shoulder,elbow,wrist ROM and NCV of upper-limb( P 0. 05),and had improved significantly in the hand grip strength and Lindmark scores( P 0. 01). Conclusions It could be concluded that robot-assisted training gained better motor function of upper limb in stroke patients on the basis of conventional training,and more effectively improve the nerve conduction function of hemiplegic upper limb.