According to the CDC, every year, more than 795,000 people suffer from a stroke in the United States. A stroke is known as a transient ischemic attack which means that blood flow to the brain is blocked. Without any blood flowing, the brain cannot receive oxygen nor nutrients. This then leads to cells dying which can furthermore lead to brain damage. There are many reasons that a person can experience a stroke, some of them include, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, smoking, obesity, diabetes, etc. An individual who has suffered from a stroke can come out with many complications. Some include difficulty speaking, loss of bladders and bowel control, loss of bone density or strength, loss of vision, hearing or touch, etc. Due to a stroke being able to cause damage to several brain areas, it is a very serious condition that requires medical attention immediately.
In Vincent C-F Chen’s article, “Effects of 8- week sensory electrical stimulation combined with motor training on EEG -EMG coherence and motor function in individuals with stroke”, Chen completed a research where tested how ES (electrical stimulation) can affect motor coordination in a stroke patient. Patients were split into a control and placebo group where both received the intervention of ES twice a week through the course of eight weeks. The study took in people who were chronic stroke survivors with specific criteria that needed to be met. The research was completed after 8 weeks, and a series of results were able to be determined. One key result that was found was the overall effect of ES on the chronic stroke survivors. After the research was completed, the study demonstrated that those who received ES showed improvements in their motor skills. Although limited, motor recovery is still possible in patients. The article explained that chronic stroke patient have a lower chance of motor recovery than patients who suffered from a stroke and received treatment 30 days later. However, with this study, most patients were chronic stroke patients, and still showed improvement with ES treatment.
In a similar article, research was conducted to give physical therapists evidence-based resource on when they should use NMES (neuromuscular electrical stimulation). In this article, one area that they targeted was NMES with stroke rehabilitation. Similar to Chen’s research, electrical stimulation was used to promote recovery. However, with this article they specifically used NMES and targeted muscle strengthening and recovery of limb function of stroke patients (both acute and chronic stroke). Since this article was intended to give therapists evidence, it also targeted muscoskeletal conditions, critical illnesses, and advanced disease states. This article later goes into detail to give therapists more information. It gives details about specific areas that need the attention, and how to complete the task. For stroke patients, there were four different types of treatments provided, all of which gave evidence of increased motor activity in the patient.
In comparison to Dr. Chen’s research, this article was more specific. It gave different conditions, and specifics of each condition. In addition, it also used NMES rather than ES. All in all, it has been determined that electrical stimulation can cause improvements with motor function and can be used to help stroke patients recover. With the correct equipment and conditions, electrical stimulation can be used in physical therapy to improve a patient’s conditions after they suffer from a stroke.
References:
Nussbaum EL, Houghton P, Anthony J, Rennie S, Shay BL, Hoens AM. Neuromuscular electrical stimulation for treatment of Muscle Impairment: Critical Review and recommendations for clinical practice. Physiotherapy Canada. 2017;69(5):1-76. doi:10.3138/ptc.2015-88
Stroke facts. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/stroke/facts.htm#:~:text=Stroke%20statistics,-In%202020%2C%201&text=Every%20year%2C%20more%20than%20795%2C000,are%20first. Published October 14, 2022. Accessed April 28, 2023.
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