Effect of electrical stimulation in the treatment on patients with foot drop after stroke: a Systematic Review and Network Meta-analysis.

Objective: To systematically evaluate the efficacy of electrical stimulation (ES) in the treatment of patients with foot drop (FD) after stroke, and to compare the efficacy of different types of ES.

Data Sources: We searched 5 English database (PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, Cochrane Library and Scopus) and 4 Chinese databases (China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), SinoMed (CBM), VIP and Wanfang Data) from inception to June, 2024.

Data Synthesis: Traditional meta-analysis and network meta-analysis were performed using RevMan5.4 software and Stata 14.0 software respectively. A total of 37 RCTs were included, involving 2309 patients. The results of the traditional meta-analysis showed that compared with CRT, ES combined with CRT was effective in improving the range of motion (ROM) of ankle dorsiflexion in patients with FD after stroke and significantly improved the fugl-meyer assessment of lower extremity (FMA-LE) scores. For patients with FD with different disease duration, the subgroup analysis results showed that the ES improved the ROM of ankle dorsiflexion of patients in recovery phases (1-6 months) better than those in the acute phases (≤ 1 month) and sequelae phases (≥ 6 months), but the overall results of the three groups were not significantly different. The ES improved the lower limb motor function of patients in the recovery phases better than those in the acute phases, and the efficacy was not significant in patients in the sequelae phases (P > 0.05). The results of network meta-analysis showed that the best probability of improving the dorsiflexion angle of the ankle was electroacupuncture (EA) > transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) > transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) > functional electrical stimulation (FES) > neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) > electromyographic biofeedback therapy (EMGBFT) > conventional rehabilitation therapy (CRT); the best probability of improving the dorsiflexion angle of the ankle was EA > EMGBFT > tDCS > FES > TENS > NMES > CRT.

Conclusions: The current evidence showed that the ES combined with CRT can effectively improve the ROM of ankle dorsiflexion and lower limb motor function in patients with FD after stroke, especially the patients in recovery phases. Among the different types of ES, EA had the best effect than other types of ES.