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 FES-cycling 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.