Effect of spasticity of the ankle plantar flexors on the walking speed of hemiplegic stroke patients after maximum walking speed exercises.

Unlabelled: Yamada T, Ohta M, Tamari M. Effect of spasticity of the ankle plantar flexors on the walking speed of hemiplegic stroke patients after maximum walking speed exercises. Jpn J Compr Rehabil Sci 2021; 12: 64-69.

Objective: This study examined the effect of ankle plantar flexor spasticity on the walking speed of hemiplegic stroke patients immediately following maximum walking speed exercises.

Methods: A total of 23 hemiplegic stroke patients were divided into two groups based on the presence ( = 13) or absence ( = 10) of ankle plantar flexor spasticity on the paralyzed side. Gait speed, propulsive force during pre-swing, paretic side ankle plantar flexion movement during pre-swing, paretic side ankle dorsiflexion angle during the stance phase, angular velocity of paretic side dorsiflexion during the stance phase, paretic side trailing limb angle in the terminal stance, paretic side plantar flexion angle in the terminal stance, and the timing of maximum dorsiflexion of the ankle joint on the paretic side were measured before and after the maximum walking speed exercises, using a three-dimensional motion analyzer.

Results: In the spasticity group, no significant improvement was observed in any of the categories. In contrast, in the non-spasticity group, significant improvement was observed in all categories, except for the paretic side ankle dorsiflexion angle.

Conclusion: This study showed that maximum walking speed exercises immediately improved walking speed in hemiplegic stroke patients without ankle plantar flexor spasticity.