Abstract

INFLUENCE OF CIMT ON NEUROPLASTICITY AND ITS FUNCTIONAL CONSEQUENCES IN EARLY STROKE PATIENTS

Kabalan Ali*, Shantaf Mohammad, Wehbe Wael, Mohsen Zaher El-Dine, Haidar Khodor Hassan*, Karakeh Hassan and Kheir Eddine Hassane

ABSTRACT

Stroke is classically described as a neurological deficit attributed to acute focal injury of the central nervous system by a vascular cause. It is a major cause of disability and death around the world. However, constraint induced movement therapy (CIMT) is one of the most applicable therapy for post stroke patient. To study evidence-based practice of the effect of CIMT in early-stage (acute and subacute) hemiplegic patients and its influence on neuroplasticity. The search strategy is based on several databases, including PubMed, COCHRANE and Pedro from the year 2007 until 2017 by selecting the articles related to the keywords. A total of 379 articles were identified during the electronic search in the databases. Only 8 experimental studies met the inclusion criteria. The analysis of the synoptic table of the different studies carried out on the application of the CIMT in acute and sub-acute hemiplegic patients shows an improvement of the motor function of the upper limb. This study has shown that CIMT and modified CIMT (mCIMT) are effective techniques for improving upper limb function in acute and subacute hemiplegic patients for the hand motor function and activities of daily living.

Keywords: Constraint induced movement therapy, modified constraint induced movement therapy, stroke, hemiplegia, CVA, hand function, upper extremity, neuroplasticity.