Article

OBJECTIVE: To compare the effects of anodal vs. sham transcranial direct current
stimulation combined with virtual reality training for improving gait in children
with cerebral palsy. DESIGN:
A pilot, randomized, controlled, double-blind,
clinical trial. SETTING: Rehabilitation clinics. SUBJECTS: A total of 20 children
with diparesis owing to cerebral palsy. INTERVENTIONS:
The experimental group
received anodal stimulation and the control group received sham stimulation over
the primary motor cortex during virtual reality training. All patients underwent
the same training programme involving a virtual reality (10 sessions).
Evaluations were performed before and after the intervention as well as at the
one-month follow-up and involved gait analysis, the Gross Motor Function Measure,
the Pediatric Evaluation Disability Inventory and the determination of motor
evoked potentials. RESULTS: The experimental group had a better performance
regarding gait velocity (experimental group: 0.63 +/-0.17 to 0.85 +/-0.11 m/s;
control group: 0.73 +/-0.15 to 0.61 +/-0.15 m/s), cadence (experimental group:
97.4 +/-14.1 to 116.8 +/-8.7 steps/minute; control group: 92.6 +/-10.4 to 99.7
+/-9.7 steps/minute), gross motor function (dimension D experimental group: 59.7
+/-12.8 to 74.9 +/-13.8; control group: 58.9 +/-10.4 to 69.4 +/-9.3; dimension E
experimental group: 59.0 +/-10.9 to 79.1 +/-8.5; control group: 60.3 +/-10.1 to
67.4 +/-11.4) and independent mobility (experimental group: 34.3 +/-5.9 to 43.8
+/-75.3; control group: 34.4 +/-8.3 to 37.7 +/-7.7). Moreover, transcranial
direct current stimulation led to a significant increase in motor evoked
potential (experimental group: 1.4 +/-0.7 to 2.6 +/-0.4; control group: 1.3
+/-0.6 to 1.6 +/-0.4). CONCLUSION: These preliminary findings support the
hypothesis that anodal transcranial direct current stimulation combined with
virtual reality training could be a useful tool for improving gait in children
with cerebral palsy.
CI - (c) The Author(s) 2015.

Langue : ANGLAIS