Abstract:

Objective: To discuss the clinical efficacy of extracorporeal shock wave therapy(ESWT) in the treatment of spasticity of biceps brachii in the stroke patients,and to elucidate its possible mechanism.Methods: A total of 48 patients with spasticity of biceps brachii after stroke were selected divided into control group and combined treatment group according to the table of random number(n=24).All patients in two groups received routine rehabilitation treatment. Based on routine treatment, the patients in combined treatment group received ESWT.Modified Ashworth Scale(MAS) and simplified Fugl-Meyer(FMA) were used to evaluate the spasticity of biceps brachii and upper limb motor function of the patients in two groups before treatment and 2 weeks after treatment.Results: Before treatment, there was no significant difference in the MAS score and FMA score of biceps brachii of the patients between two groups(P>0.05).Compared with before treatment,the scores of MAS and FMA of biceps brachii of the patients in combined treatment group were significantly improved(P<0.05).The MAS score of biceps brachii of the patients in combined treatment group 2 weeks after treatment was lower(P=0.001) while the FMA score was significantly higher than those in control group(P=0.023).There were no adverse reactions in the patients in combined treatment group.Conclusion: Aplication of ESWT can effectively relieve the spasticity of biceps brachii of the stroke patients,and the effective rate in combined treatment group was greatly superior to control group.

Key words: spasticity, extracorporeal shock wave, stroke, biceps brachii