RESUMO
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of prolonged stretching for both calf muscles simultaneously, using wooden stretcher, on improving diplegic gait of cerebral palsied children. This study included fifteen diplegic cerebral palsied children from both sexes with age ranged from 6 to 8 [X6.2]. They were selected from out patient clinic of Faculty of Physical Therapy, Cairo university, on a basic criteria. Hoffman reflex/myogenic response [H/M] ratio and gait pattern were assessed before and after treatment. The treatment program included prolonged stretching using wooden stretcher in addition to traditional physical therapy modalities. It was conducted for 4 months, 4 times/week. At the end of study the results revealed significant reduction in H/M ratio which in turn resulted in functional improvement of diplegic walking pattern. This improvement could be attributed to the cumulative effect of stretching protocol and traditional physical therapy modalities