Short-latency stretch reflexes do not contribute to premature calf muscle activity during the stance phase of gait in spastic patients.

Objective: To identify whether a relationship exists between stretch and activity of the calf muscles during the stance phase of gait in patients with upper motor neuron syndrome (UMNS), while taking into account the physiologic phase shift between these entities.

Design: Survey.

Setting: Ambulatory care and general community.

Posturographic assessment of sitting balance recovery in the subacute phase of stroke.

Although early sitting balance is a well-known predictor of functional outcome after stroke, it is still unknown which aspects of normal upright sitting balance are most sensitive to subsequent recovery. This study used an adjustable chair mounted on a force platform to assess the recovery of quiet-sitting balance in 16 patients with a first supratentorial stroke during their inpatient rehabilitation. The patients underwent three posturographic assessments at 6-week intervals from the moment of their admission, on average 5.

Long-term effects of 6-week whole-body vibration on balance recovery and activities of daily living in the postacute phase of stroke: a randomized, controlled trial.

Background And Purpose: The long-term effects of 6-weeks whole-body vibration, as a novel method of somatosensory stimulation, on postural control and activities of daily living were compared with those of 6 weeks of exercise therapy on music of the same intensity in the postacute phase of stroke.

Methods: Fifty-three patients with moderate to severe functional disabilities were randomized within 6 weeks poststroke and within 3 days after admission to a rehabilitation center to either whole-body vibration or exercise therapy on music in addition to a regular inpatient rehabilitation program. The whole-body vibration group received 4x45-second stimulation on the Galileo 900 (30-Hz frontal plane oscillations of 3-mm amplitude) for 5 days per week during 6 weeks.