Effects of Repetitive Passive Movement on Lower Extremity Muscle Tone and Function in Children with Cerebral Palsy

Most of the cerebral palsy (CP) patients demonstrate an increase in muscle tension in lower extremity, which inevitably leads to abnormal gait characteristics. In order to improve the abnormal gait, proper managing of excessive muscle tension is of great importance. In recent years, studies have used repetitive passive movement to reduce abnormal muscle tension and improve limb function in patients with stroke and spinal cord injury. However, no such management has been applied to patients with cerebral palsy. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to explore the effects of repetitive passive movement on cerebral palsy children respecting their lower extremity hyperactivity and abnormal gait characteristics. This study will be conducted in 2 years. In the first year, we will apply repetitive passive movement to the subject’s knee joint and evaluate related muscle activities and gait performance. The second year we will emphasize on the effects of repetitive passive movement on subject’s ankle joint. Thirty cerebral palsy children with walking ability will be recruited. The experimental condition will be a 30-minute passive repetitive knee/ankle movement with a velocity of 15 degrees per second. The control condition will be a 30-minute rest on the same device that provides repetitive movement to knee/ankle joint. Each subject will serve as their own control. Subject’s lower extremity muscle tension, joint range of motion, and functional indexes for gait properties will be measured both before and after the intervention. ANOVA will be used for statistical analysis. We expect that slow repetitive passive movement can reduce the patient's muscle tension and improve their gait performance, and further benefit their rehabilitation process.

Project ID:PC9907-2117
External Project ID:NSC99-2314-B182-008-MY2