ELECTRICAL-STIMULATION AND BIOFEEDBACK EFFECT ON RECOVERY OF TENODESIS GRASP - A CONTROLLED-STUDY

Objective: Evaluate the effectiveness of electrical stimulation and bi ofeedback on the recovery of tenodesis grasp in tetraplegic individual s during the initial phase of acute rehabilitation. Design: A 2 x 2 bl ock design was used with subjects randomized to treatment groups. Fort y-five subjects completed the study. Setting: Inpatient occupational t herapy department. Subjects: Inpatients with tetraplegia, first admiss ion for rehabilitation after an acute spinal cord injury. Intervention s: The four treatment groups were. conventional treatment, electrical stimulation, biofeedback, and combined electrical stimulation and biof eedback. The treatment period was between 5 and 6 weeks, Main Outcome Measures: Manual muscle testing and scaring of activities of daily liv ing performance by a blinded evaluator. Results: All four treatment gr oups showed improvements. No treatment group was superior to the other s. Conclusions: Biofeedback and electrical stimulation alone or in com bination offer no advantages over conventional rehabilitation treatmen t of wrist extensors in tetraplegic patients after spinal cord injury. (C) 1996 by the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine and the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation