Comparing the Effect of Functional Electrical Stimulation and Functional Exercise Therapy on the Treatment of Ischemic Stroke: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Stroke is considered as the third common cause of disability and mortality in the world. Therefore, it is important to find a new treatment for increasing the rehabilitation of disability after stroke. The aim of this study was comparing the effect of functional electrical stimulation (FES) and functional exercise therapy (FET) on the treatment of ischemic stroke (IS).

This randomized clinical trial was performed in Fatemieh Physiotherapy Clinic of Rafsanjan, Iran in 2019. Thirty-three patients affected by IS were randomly assigned into three equal groups including that received FES, FET and conventional physiotherapy (CP), respectively during 10 sessions. Strength of grasping, intensity of spasticity, ability of walking and assessing of disability levels were evaluated during the first and tenth sessions and one month later. Data was analyzed using one-way ANOVA and two-way repeated measures ANOVA followed by Tukey’s multiple comparisons test and chi-square test.           

The finding of this study showed that 10 sessions of FES was more effective than FET and CP in reducing spasticity, increasing walking ability and decreasing levels of disability in IS (p˂0.001), but the three methods did not significantly differ in increasing the strength of grasping (p=0.070).

According to this study, it is recommended that FES be used in treating the complications of IS such as spasticity, problem of walking and decreasing disability.