Somatosensory electrical stimulation (SES) has been proposed as an approach to treat patients with sensory-motor impairment such as spasticity. However, there is still no consensus regarding which would be the adequate SES parameters to treat those deficits. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of applying SES over the forearm muscles at four different frequencies of stimulation (3, 30, 150, and 300 Hz) and in two intervals of time (5′ and 30′) by means of transcranial magnetic stimulation and Hoffmann's reflex (H-reflex) in healthy volunteers (Experiments  I and II). A group of stroke patients (Experiment  III) was also preliminary evaluated to ascertain SES effects at a low frequency (3 Hz) applied for 30′ over the forearm spastic flexors muscles by measuring the wrist joint passive torque. Motor evoked potentials and the H-reflex were collected from different forearm and hand muscles immediately before and after SES and up to 5′ (Experiment  I) and 10′ (Experiments  I and II) later. None of the investigated frequencies of SES was able to operate as a key in switching modulatory effects in the central nervous system of healthy volunteers and stroke patients with spasticity.

No abstract

Evidence suggests that somatosensory electrical stimulation (SES) may decrease the degree of spasticity from neural drives, although there is no agreement between corticospinal modulation and the level of spasticity. Thus, stroke patients and healthy subjects were submitted to SES (3 Hz) for 30′ on the impaired and dominant forearms, respectively. Motor evoked potentials induced by single-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation were collected from two forearm muscles before and after SES. The passive resistance of the wrist joint was measured with an isokinetic system. We found no evidence of an acute carryover effect of SES on the degree of spasticity.

The aim of this study was to compare the intervals of time between adjacent zero crossings (ZCI), an alternative frequency-temporal parameter, with the root-mean-square (RMS) value and the median frequency (F(med)) from the surface EMG (sEMG) signal in muscle fatigue analysis. Twenty right-handed volunteers performed isometric contractions of right biceps brachii muscle while sEMG signals were collected from it at three different and arbitrary load levels until fatigue. The mean ZCI presented a significant correlation with F(med) but not with RMS value and it also presented lower coefficients of variation than others. The results pointed that mean ZCI properties can contribute more than F(med) and RMS value on the interpretation of the muscle function under fatigue conditions.

As dores apresentadas na região lombar da coluna são denominadas de lombalgia e acometem cerca de 80% da população. Podem resultar em incapacitação e muitas vezes necessitam de tratamento fisioterápico. Este trabalho teve por objetivo comparar a eficácia das técnicas de Reeducação Postural Global (RPG) e Liberação Miofascial (LM) no tratamento de pacientes com lombalgia crônica. Foram selecionados 60 pacientes de ambos os sexos, de 30 a 60 anos, atendidos em clínica de fisioterapia em São Pedro da Aldeia, RJ.  Constituiu-se três grupos: I de RPG, II de LM e o III de RPG + LM. Cada paciente foi submetido à anamnese e a duas sessões fisioterápicas semanais, sendo um total de oito sessões de 30 minutos de duração. Para avaliação da dor utilizou-se a Escala Visual Numérica e Escala de incapacidade de Roland Morris. Os resultados não evidenciaram diferenças significativas entre os grupos quanto à redução da dor (p = 0,3816). Foi observada ainda diferença estatística entre o primeiro e o último atendimento com relação a dor em todos os grupos. A escala de Roland Morris revelou diferenças significativas entre o início e final do tratamento. Conclui-se que, de acordo com as escalas aplicadas, ambas as técnicas resultaram em redução no nível da dor, mas nenhuma das técnicas se mostrou mais eficaz em relação a outra. Ademais, notou-se que a associação das técnicas resulta em redução no nível da dor desde o primeiro atendimento, sendo este um achado relevante para direcionar o tratamento destes pacientes.