Efficacy of whole body vibration on fascicle length and joint angle in children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy.

Background And Objective: Enhancing joint range of motion is regarded as one of the most long-term goals in the management of cerebral palsy (CP). With CP, there are well-documented changes in the neurological drive to skeletal muscle, which leads to modifications in the architecture of the muscles. Whole-body vibration (WBV) is one intervention to modify muscle and joint. However, its efficacy needs to be accurately studied. This study investigates the effects of WBV on fascicle length, knee joint angle and function in children with spastic hemiplegic CP.

Methods: Eighty children with hemiplegic CP aged 4-6 years were enrolled. Participants were randomly divided into experimental and control groups. The control group received a designated physical therapy program and the experimental group received a designated physical therapy program in addition to WBV. Program was performed 3 times a week for 12 weeks. Goniometry, ultrasonography and gross motor function measurements were used to measure knee extension joint angle, fascicle length of hamstrings and function, respectively.

Results: The results of this study indicated that, designed physical therapy program with WBV could increase the active range of motion in knee extension (p = 0.001) and fascicle length of hamstring (p = 0.001) muscles as well as improve function in children with hemiplegic CP (p = 0.001).

Implication For Physiotherapy Practice: According to the findings, the use of WBV can be considered as an effective treatment in increasing the range of motion of knee extension and fascicle length and finally improving function in children with CP.