High-tone therapy in the comprehensive rehabilitation of children with cerebral palsy

Zbigniew Śliwiński, Bartłomiej Halat, Krzysztof Gieremek, Beata Ufniak, Jolanta Chmarek-Rojczyk

Zbigniew Śliwiński, Bartłomiej Halat, Krzysztof Gieremek, Beata Ufniak, Jolanta Chmarek-Rojczyk – High-tone therapy in the comprehensive rehabilitation of children with cerebral palsy. Fizjoterapia Polska 2003; 3(3); 231-242

Abstract

Background. This article describes the possibilities of using high-tone therapy in the comprehensive rehabilitation of children with cerebral palsy (CP). This device stimulates nerves and muscles with an electrical current at a frequency corresponding to acoustic vibrations, from 4400 to 12300 Hz. High-tone therapy produces many desirable effect; it disperses foci of pain and inflammation, intensifies metabolism, increases local blood supply, promotes cellular diffusion, improves tissue nutrition, accelerates resorption of edema, rebuilds original tissue structure (including muscles), and reduces tension in transversely striated muscle. Material and methods. We studied 19 children with CP-related spastic tetraplegia, age 4-17, inpatients at the Pediatric and Adult Rehabilitation Center in Zgorzelec, Poland. Manual dexterity was tested, as well as range of movement in the radiocarpal and ankle joints. The circumference of the hands and feet was measured and the gait stereotype assessed before and after treatment. The therapeutic program included a 30-minute procedure with the hoSti-Scan program, using a WaDiT-12 apparatus, followed by stimulation of the muscles responsible for dorsal flexion of hands and feet. Results. The evaluation of manual dexterity using the Munich Functional Developmental Diagnosis program indicated that a 4-week rehabilitation program combined with high-tone hterapy had a significant impact on improvement in the manual function of the hands in the subject children. All the children tolerated high-tone therapy very well. Conclusions. In view of the improvement in manual dexterity, radiocarpal and ankle mobility, and gait stereotype, hightone therapy is useful in the rehabilitation of children with spastic cerebral palsy.

Key words:
high tone therapy, methodology of procedure, determinants of gait, Munich Functional Developmental Diagnosis
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