Clinical efficacy of upper limb robotic therapy in people with tetraplegia: a pilot randomized controlled trial.

Study Design: A pilot randomized controlled trial.

Objectives: To evaluate the clinical efficacy of upper limb robotic therapy in people with tetraplegia.

Setting: Inpatient rehabilitation hospital in Seoul, Korea.

Methods: Participants were randomly allocated to a robotic therapy (RT) or occupational therapy (OT) group. Both groups received usual care plus 30 min of additional therapy per day for 4 weeks. The additional therapy provided to the OT group was OT, and the additional therapy provided to RT group was RT using the Armeo Power. Primary outcomes were the Medical Research Council scale of each key muscle and Upper Extremity Motor Score (UEMS) for the trained arm. Secondary outcomes were the Spinal Cord Independence Measurement version III (SCIM-III) subscale and total score. Evaluations were performed at baseline and 4 weeks.

Results: A total of 34 individuals with tetraplegia were included; 17 in each group. At 4 weeks, the median (IQR) change in UEMS in the RT group was 1/25 (0 to 3) points compared with 0/25 (-1 to 1) points in the OT group (p = 0.03). The median (IQR) change in total SCIM-III score in the RT group was 7/100 (1.5 to 11) points compared with 0/100 (-8 to 4) points in the OT group (p < 0.01).

Conclusions: There were small improvements in motor strength and SCIM-III scores in the RT group, but there were no statistically significant differences between the groups. Further studies are required for a better understanding of the effects of RT for people with tetraplegia.