Finger-pressing therapy in the treatment of upper extremity spasticity

Objective To observe the effect of finger-pressing combined with conventional rehabilitation therapy on the recovery of upper limb function after stroke.Methods A total of 60 cerebral stroke patients were randomly divided into an experimental group (n =30) and a control group (n =30).All patients were treated with conventional anti-symptomatic drugs but no anti-spasticity ones.The experimental group was given conventional rehabilitation and finger-pressing therapy,while the control group was given conventional rehabilitation only.Both groups were measured the motor function,using the upper-extremity portion of the Fugl-Meyer Scale,and the mean integrated electromyography (iEMG) output of biceps and flexor carpi radialis after the first finger-pressing treatment and 1 month later,so as to observe the immediate and continuous effects of finger-pressing therapy respectively.Results After the first session of finger-pressing therapy,the average Fugl-Meyer score(FMA) (12.63 ± 4.64) of the experimental group was significantly higher than in a pretest (12.13 ± 4.88) (P ＜ 0.05),while the iEMG of biceps (41.64 ± 9.22) and flexor carpi radialis (37.06 ± 7.02) were lower than before (P ＜ 0.01).One month after the treatment,compared with the control group,the average FMA (25.17 ± 5.93) and iEMG of biceps(34.42 ± 7.55) and flexor carpi radialis sEMG(30.63 ± 5.54) in the experimental group were significantly improved (P ＜ 0.01).Conclusions Finger-pressing therapy has significant and immediate effects in improving the upper extremity spasticity of stroke survivors.Combined with conventional rehabilitation therapy it can effectively reduce the upper extremity spasticity in stroke patients and significantly improve the upper extremity function.The combination is superior to conventional rehabilitation alone. Key words: Finger-pressing therapy;  Stroke;  Spasticity;  sEMG