THERAPEUTIC ELECTRICAL-STIMULATION FOLLOWING SELECTIVE POSTERIOR RHIZOTOMY IN CHILDREN WITH SPASTIC DIPLEGIC CEREBRAL-PALSY - A RANDOMIZED CLINICAL-TRIAL
P. Steinbok et al., THERAPEUTIC ELECTRICAL-STIMULATION FOLLOWING SELECTIVE POSTERIOR RHIZOTOMY IN CHILDREN WITH SPASTIC DIPLEGIC CEREBRAL-PALSY - A RANDOMIZED CLINICAL-TRIAL, Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, 39(8), 1997, pp. 515-520
A randomized controlled trial was carried out to determine the effecti
veness of therapeutic electrical stimulation (TES) in improving the fu
nction of children with spastic cerebral palsy (CP), who had undergone
selective posterior lumbosacral rhizotomy more than a year previously
. Children were randomly assigned to groups to receive TES for 1 year,
or to have no TES. The primary outcome was the change in the Gross Mo
tor Function Measure (GMFM), a quantitative and validated measure for
use in children with spastic CP. There was a statistically significant
and clinically important improvement in outcome for the treated child
ren, with the mean change in the GMFM score at one year being 5.5% com
pared with 1.9% in the untreated group (P=0.001). TES was simple to us
e, had no significant complications, and was well accepted by the chil
dren and their caregivers, as indicated by an average compliance of 93
% for the application of TES on a nightly basis over the course of the
study. It was concluded that TES may be beneficial in children with s
pastic CP who have undergone a selective posterior rhizotomy procedure
more than 1 year previously.