Electrical stimulation and splinting were not clearly more effective than splinting alone for contracture management after acquired brain injury: a randomised trial.

Question: Is electrical stimulation and splinting more effective than splinting alone for the management of wrist contracture following acquired brain injury?

Design: A multi-centre randomised trial with concealed allocation, assessor blinding, and intention-to-treat analysis.

Participants: Thirty-six adults with first stroke or traumatic brain injury and mild to moderate wrist flexion contractures.

Intervention: The experimental group received electrical stimulation to the wrist and finger extensor muscles for 1 hour a day over 4 weeks while the control group did not.

The prevalence and characteristics of shoulder pain after traumatic brain injury.

Objective: To determine the prevalence and characteristics of shoulder pain in people with traumatic brain injury participating in inpatient rehabilitation and to compare the clinical presentation with that of people with stroke.

Design: A prospective comparative study.

Setting: Six metropolitan rehabilitation units.