Clinical neuropsychological evaluation of the spinal neuromechanisms of stance or stride after damage to the brain or spinal cord

Ryszard Kinalski

Ryszard Kinalski – Clinical neuropsychological evaluation of the spinal neuromechanisms of stance or stride after damage to the brain or spinal cord. Fizjoterapia Polska 2001; 1(2); 183-186

Abstract
Background. The object of discussion is the suitability of certain neuropsychological methods of clinical testing to objectivize and quantify disturbances of spinal neuromechanisms subsequent to stroke or spinal cord damage. Method. The author, on the basis of the author’s own observations and a survey of the literature, discusses the usefulness of anticipatory postural adjustment and Hoffmann’s reflex modulation testing for patients of brain damage, and evoked potentials and polyelectromyography in cases of spinal damage. Conclusion. The results of clinical neuropsychological testing of patients following stroke or spinal cord damage can be used to quantify the status and evolution of the spinal neuromechanisms involved in stance and stride.

Key words:
clinical neurophysiology, brain damage, spinal cord damage, stance, stride

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Effect of an inpatient Active Rehabilitation programme on functional performance of patients following a cervical spinal cord injury

Piotr Józefowski, Rafał Szafraniec, Jan Szczegielniak

Piotr Józefowski, Rafał Szafraniec, Jan Szczegielniak – Effect of an inpatient Active Rehabilitation programme on functional performance of patients following a cervical spinal cord injury. Fizjoterapia Polska 2011; 11(1); 21-29

Abstract
The study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a single administration of an inpatient programme of Active Rehabilitation on the functional performance of people with high spinal cord injury. The study involved 23 men between the ages of 17 and 30 years with tetraplegia due to spinal cord injury in the cervical segment. Group 1 was composed of patients with damage at the level of C6 (n = 22), and Group II consisted of patients with damage at the level of C7 (n = 11). Patients were evaluated immediately before the beginning of the programme (TEST I) and on its completion (TEST II) using the Spinal Cord Independence Measure (SCIM) scale.Mean SCIM increased from 32.8 to 43.5 in the C6 group, and from 43.7 to 53.9 in the C7 group. Improved SCIM scores were noted in both groups in all of the domains surveyed: self-care, respiration and sphincter management, and indoor and outdoor mobility.A fourteen-day inpatient programme of Active Rehabilitation appeared to have a significant impact on improving functional performance in the patients after spinal cord injury at the C6 and C7 level in all aspects examined, even when the damage had occurred 14-17 months before the treatment began.
Key words:
spinal cord injury, Active Rehabilitation, functional performance, SCIM
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