BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE We sought to determine whether continuous intrathecal delivery of baclofen can effectively decrease spastic hypertonia due to stroke. METHODS Stroke patients with >6 months of intractable spasticity were screened via a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover design of either intrathecal normal saline or 50 microgram baclofen. Those who dropped an average ...

We undertook this investigation to determine the interrater reliability of manual tests of elbow flexor muscle spasticity graded on a modified Ashworth scale. We each independently graded the elbow flexor muscle spasticity of 30 patients with intracranial lesions. We agreed on 86.7% of our ratings. The Kendall's tau correlation between our grades was .847 (p less than .001). Thus, the relations...

OBJECTIVE To investigate the effect of tizanidine (an alpha(2) noradrenergic agonist) on transmission in the interneuronal pathway coactivated by group I and group II afferents in post-stroke patients with spastic hemiplegia. METHODS Early and late facilitation of the quadriceps H reflex elicited in the common peroneal nerve--attributed to non-monosynaptic group I and group II excitation, res...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Spasticity (hypertonicity) is a frequent problem that can develop after stroke and can lead to a number of secondary complications, such as contractures and pain. Consequently, many rehabilitation resources are used in treating the condition and its secondary complications. At present, the clinical assessment of spasticity incorporates descriptive scales of resistance to ...

Objectives: There are some controversies about the value of modified Ashworth Scale (MAS) for assessing spasticity. The goal of this study was to investigate if there is any correlation between scores obtained from MAS for wrist spasticity and electrophysiological recordings as the objective measure of spasticity. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 34 stroke patients were employed. Wris...

Spasticity is mostly due to an excess of impulses to alpha motor neurons partly resulting from a change of interneuron activity. Low threshold afferent has been reported to change the activity in interneuron. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of surface spinal paravertebral stimulation on knee extensor spasticity. Ten survivors of stroke, with knee extensor spasticity, rec...

Stroke welcomes Letters to the Editor and will publish them, if suitable, as space permits. They should not exceed 750 words (including references) and may be subject to editing or abridgment. Please submit letters in duplicate, typed double-spaced. Include a fax number for the corresponding author and a completed copyright transfer agreement form (available online at The report from Lundstrom ...

BACKGROUND Upper limb recovery is one of the main goals of post-stroke rehabilitation due to its importance for autonomy in Activities of Daily Living (ADL). Although the efficacy of upper limb Robot-assisted Therapy (RT) is well established in literature, the impact of the initial status of the patient on the effects of RT is still understudied. This paper aims to identify whether demographic,...