Constraint Induced Movement Therapy in Acute Stroke Patients

There are approximately 15 million people worldwide suffering from cerebrovascular stroke each year. Of these, 5 million are permanently disabled. One of the disabling consequences of cerebrovascular stroke is functional impairment of the affected upper extremity since its recovery is often delayed than that of the lower extremity. Most rehabilitation strategies of acute hemiplegic patients focus on compensation rather than restoration of upper extremity function since patients use the unaffected upper extremity for activities of daily living. Promising approach to improve sensori-motor recovery after acute stroke is constraint induced movement therapy (CIMT), often labeled ¿forced use¿ treatment. CIMT is a behavioral approach in neuro-rehabilitation based on the principle of ¿learned non-use¿. The major components of CIMT include intense repetitive training and behavioral shaping of the impaired limb with immobilization of the unimpaired arm. In our study, we functionally and neurophysiologically assessed the efficacy of CIMT on functional recovery of upper extremity in acute stroke patients.