Volitional Cycling Augmented by Functional Electrical stimulation in Hemiparetic Adolescents : a Case Series Study

The aim of this work was to assess the feasibility of a treatment based on volitional cycling augmented by Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) on hemiparetic adolescents. Six chronic hemiparetic adolescents were included in a case series study. Patients underwent FES-cycling training combined with voluntary pedaling. The intervention consisted of 21 sessions lasting 30 minutes each. Patients were evaluated before, after training, and at a 3-month follow-up visit through clinical scales (Winter scale, observational gait scale, gross motor function measurement, Boyd test and Ashworth scale), a standard gait analysis and a voluntary pedaling test. Results were compared with an age-matched healthy control group (N=6). Two subjects withdrew the study before the completion of the intervention. Concerning the four remaining subjects, the clinical scales showed a slight level of disability already at baseline and no changes were observed after the intervention. In terms of walking ability, some significant improvements (Kruskal-Wallis test, p-value<0.05) were obtained after training in two out of four subjects: an increase of about 16% and 41% of the ankle range of motion and of about 18% and 33% of the ankle propelling power were achieved for two subjects, respectively. During pedaling, the work produced by the paretic leg while pulling the pedal significantly increased in 3 out of 4 subjects. In one subject a more symmetrical cycling movement was observed, whilst for another subject a significant improvement in terms of co-contraction between rectus femoris and biceps femoris was achieved. In conclusion, this study assessed the feasibility of FEScycling training on hemiparetic adolescents, but did not provide evidences about the effectiveness of this intervention in improving motor recovery and walking ability. However, since only a small group of patients with a low level of disability was involved in the study, further investigations are needed to provide conclusive results.