Abstract

Background: Stroke patients have residual impairments which results in disability. Being an upper motor neuron lesion the status of peripheral neural tension is not clearly studied thus far. Objectives: The primary aim of the review was to establish whether there is clear understanding about the status of peripheral neural mechanics following stroke and Secondary aim of the study was to analyze the contribution of neural mobilization techniques as an intervention tool in stroke recovery Strategy: The researcher searched the Cochrane Stroke Group Trials Register. In addition, the following electronic databases were explored: Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, Web of Science Proceeding, Science Citation Index Expanded, Physiotherapy Evidence Database (Pedro), REHAB-DATA and Google Scholar. The reviewer had searched relevant journals and conference proceedings and screened reference lists. To identify if there were any unpublished and on-going trials a search on trials directories were undertaken Selection criteria: Studies were included if there was an attempt made using neural tension testing procedure and neural mobilization technique to improve the status of stroke patient. Data collection and analysis: Data from eligible studies were extracted by a single reviewer. There were no specific outcome measures specified as inclusion criteria as there were only few studies that discussed our review content. Main results: Studies which were a total number of 22 studies were screened, out of which 12 studies were selected for the review report. Out of the 12 studies 7 were RCTs, 3 Quasi-experimental, 1 case report and 1 systematic analysis were identified to answer the review question. Conclusions: This review concludes that there was no evidence documented in the past explaining the neural mechanics and periodic changes that take place following stroke. All the study except one concluded a positive therapeutic benefit of using neural mobilization. However, in consideration of their methodological quality, qualitative analysis of these studies exhibited that there is only limited evidence to support the use of neural mobilization techniques.

Keywords: Stroke · Peripheral Neural Mechanics · Neural Mobilization · Neural tension

References

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Majmaah Journal of Health Sciences · eISSN 1658-8223 · Majmaah University · open access