Article

Gait impairments from a neuromuscular imbalance are crucial issues in
cerebral palsy. The purpose of our study was to compare the effects of the
assistive tubing gait (ATG) and assistive-resistive tubing gait (ARTG) on
improving the vasti and hamstring muscle imbalance during the initial contact to
mid-stance phases in individuals with spastic diplegic cerebral palsy (CP).
METHODS: Fourteen age-matched individuals including seven normal individuals
(11.7 years) and seven individuals with CP (12.9 years) were recruited. All
participants underwent electromyography (EMG) measurement of the unilateral vasti
and hamstring muscle activity during the three gait training conditions of
no-tubing gait (NTG), ATG, and ARTG. A statistical one-way repeated-measure
analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to determine differences in the vasti and
hamstring activity, the vasti/hamstring ratio, and the knee joint angle across
the three gait training conditions for each group.
RESULTS: The initial vasti and
hamstring muscle imbalance in CP was significantly improved by applying the ARTG
compared with the ATG. The vasti /hamstring ratio during the ARTG was compatible
with the ratio value obtained from the NTG of normal individuals. The knee joint
angle in CP was not improved in this short-term intervention. CONCLUSIONS: The ARTG proportionately increased the vasti activation and reciprocally inhibited
the hamstring activity, subsequently improving the neuromuscular imbalance associated with the flexed-knee gait in individuals with spastic diplegic CP.

Langue : ANGLAIS