| Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6007644 | Clinical Neurophysiology | 2016 | 10 Pages |
â¢Similar Hmax/Mmax ratio was observed between cerebral palsy patients and healthy individuals.â¢Extra-force production could be observed in response to both constant and burst-like frequency stimulations in both cerebral palsy and healthy individuals.â¢High individual variability was observed in both cerebral palsy and healthy individuals in response to wide-pulse-high-frequency stimulation.
ObjectiveThe present study assesses whether wide-pulse-high-frequency (WPHF) neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) could result in extra-force production in cerebral palsy (CP) patients as previously observed in healthy individuals.MethodsTen CP and 10 age- and sex-matched control participants underwent plantar flexors NMES. Two to three 10-s WPHF (frequency: 100 Hz, pulse duration: 1 ms) and conventional (CONV, frequency 25 Hz, pulse duration: 50 μs) trains as well as two to three burst-like stimulation trains (2 s at 25 Hz, 2 s at 100 Hz, 2 s at 25 Hz; pulse duration: 1 ms) were evoked. Resting soleus and gastrocnemii maximal H-reflex amplitude (Hmax) was normalized by maximal M-wave amplitude (Mmax) to quantify α-motoneuron modulation.ResultsSimilar Hmax/Mmax ratio was found in CP and control participants. Extra-force generation was observed both in CP (+18 ± 74%) and control individuals (+94 ± 124%) during WPHF (p < 0.05). Similar extra-forces were found during burst-like stimulations in both groups (+108 ± 110% in CP and +65 ± 85% in controls, p > 0.05).ConclusionAlthough the mechanisms underlying extra-force production may differ between WPHF and burst-like NMES, similar increases were observed in patients with CP and healthy controls.SignificanceDevelopment of extra-forces in response to WPHF NMES evoked at low stimulation intensity might open new possibilities in neuromuscular rehabilitation.
