Effects of Mirror Therapy Combined With EMG-triggered Functional Electrical Stimulation to Improve on Upper Extremity Function in Patient with Chronic Stroke

This study was performed to evaluate the effects of Mirror therapy combined with EMG-triggered Functional Electrical Stimulation on upper extremity function in patient with Chronic Stroke. A total of 24 chronic stroke patients were divided into 3 groups. Group I (n = 8) was given with traditional physical therapy (TPT), group II ( n = 7) was given with traditional physical therapy and mirror therapy ( MT), and group III (n = 9) was given with traditional physical therapy and mirror therapy in conjunction with EMG-triggered Functional Electrical Stimulation ( EMGFES- MT). Each group performed one hour a day 5 times a week for 6 weeks. We obtained the following result between before and after treatments about changes of elbow flexion muscle strength (EFMS), elbow extension muscle strength (EEMS), wrist flexion muscle strength (WFMS), wrist extension muscle strength (WEMS), elbow flexion range of motion (EFROM), elbow extension range of motion (EEROM), wrist flexion range of motion (WFROM), wrist extension range of motion (WEROM), grip strength (GS) and upper extremity function. Each group showed a significant difference in EFMS, EEMS, WFMS, WEMS, EFROM, EEROM, WFROM, WEROM, GS and upper extremity function (p < 0.05) EMFES-MT group revealed significant differences in EEMS, WEROM, grip strength and upper extremity function as compared to the other groups (p < 0.05). No difference was found in the change of spasticity among the 3 groups. Our results showed that EMFES-MT was more effective on elbow, WFMS, WEMS, AROM, grip strength and upper extremity function in patients with chronic stroke. We suggest that this study will be able to be used as an intervention data for recovering upper extremity function in chronic stroke patients