Characteristics of Muscle Contraction During the Wrist Movement in Chronic Hemiplegic Stroke Patients

만성 편마비 환자의 손목 운동 시 근수축 특성

The purpose of this study was to investigate the characteristics between EMG timing of muscle contraction and motor impairment in chronic hemiplegic stroke patients. Delay time and co-contraction of 4 patients who had stroke less than 3 years were measured during isometric wrist flexion and extension along the 3 seconds beep signal. Onset and offset of muscle contraction were significantly delayed on the more affected sides than control sides. Offset was significantly delayed than the onset on the affected sides in wrist flexion. Also, recruitment of antagonist was larger than agonist on the affected sides. Co-contraction ratio on the affected side was significantly smaller than control sides in wrist flexion. In affected sides, Fugl-Meyer motor assessment(FMA) shows the correlation of onset delay in wrist flexion and extension. However, co-contraction ratio correlated with FMA in wrist flexion. EMG assessment is likely to be useful outcome measure and provide insights into mechanism for motor recovery in stroke patients.