Effects Of Intensive Multichannel Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) Therapy On Lower Extremity Function After Stroke

Objective : Lower extremity dysfunction affects the quality of life in stroke patients.Many researches have shown that functional electrical stimulation(FES)can improve lower extremity function.This research is designed to explore the effects of intensive multichannel functional electrical stimulation therapy on the recovery of lower extremity function in stroke patients with hemiplegia.Methods : Thirty cases of stroke patients keeping with enrolling criterion were randomly divided into intensive stimulation group,stimulation group and control group,10 cases in each group.Patients in control group received conventional gait training,once a day,30 min,per session.Conventional gait training contains motor relearning program and Bobath therapy,such as walking training,transferring training,up and down step training and standing training.Patients in stimulation group received conventional gait training once a day,15 min,per session,combined with FES therapy,once a day,15 min per session.Patients in intensive stimulation group received conventional gait training once a day,15 min,per session,combined with FES therapy,once a day,30 min per session.All patients received 4 weeks rehabilitation training course.Fugl-Meyer motor assessment of lower extremity(FMA-LE),Timed”up&go”test(TUGT),10 meter maximum walking speed(10m MWS),Functional ambulation category(FAC),Barthel Index,were assessed before and after treatment.Data analysis was performed using SPSS for version 22.0.For the difference in variance among three groups after the training,one-way ANOVA was used;for post-hoc test,Bonfenoni test was used in this study.The significance was set to p <0.05 with 95% confidence limits.Results : In each group,the FMA-LE,TUGT,10 m MWS,FAC and Barthel Index were increased significantly after 4 weeks treatments(P<0.05).The FMA-LE,TUGT,10 m MWS,FAC and Barthel Index of intensive stimulation group increased more significantly comparing with stimulation group and control group.Conclusions : Intensive multichannel functional electrical stimulation therapy can effectively improve lower extremity motor function and quality of daily living in patients with stroke.