Efficiency in stroke management from acute care to rehabilitation: bedside versus telemedicine consultation.

BACKGROUND: Telemedicine has changed over the last years, becoming an integrated service used in various clinical settings such as stroke units or radiological departments, but also as an important tool for home rehabilitation. Assessment of usefulness and efficiency of performing teleconsultations to manage stroke from acute care hospital to tertiary care rehabilitation hospital has not been referred by scientific literature. AIM: This article analyzes the process of discharging stroke patients from acute care to intensive rehabilitation, based on the comparison between conventional bedside patient evaluations and teleconsultation patient evaluations, to assess efficiency and efficacy of two different discharging workflows. DESIGN: Retrospective study. SETTING: Consultations were carried out between the Acute Care Stroke Unit and the Stroke Rehabilitation Unit of Valduce Hospital System. POPULATION: The study included 257 stroke patients who underwent physiatric consultation during 2 years considered in this study and 101 patients were considered eligible for intensive rehabilitation treatment after a physiatric consultation. METHODS: We compared the efficiency and efficacy of the dismission workflow of bedside medical consultation and teleconsultation over a 12 months period. We considered the following outcome measures: time elapsed between consultation and Rehabilitation Unit admission, number of re-admissions to acute care hospital, complications occurred during rehabilitation, length of stay in the rehabilitation hospital and clinical outcomes of rehabilitation process. RESULTS: We observed a significant reduction in waiting time from the acute event to the admission in rehabilitation department, an improvement in efficiency of the admission process itself in the Rehabilitation Unit and a reduction of clinical complications occurred during rehabilitation period, without changes in rehabilitative outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: It has been highlighted that the use of telemedicine to perform medical consultation as a tool to evaluate patients eligible for tertiary care rehabilitation hospital admission from Stroke Care Unit is feasible and more efficient when compared with conventional bedside consultations. CLINICAL REHABILITATION IMPACT: This study reveals teleconsultations as a useful tool to improve efficiency of the stroke management workflow.

Does botulinum toxin treatment improve upper limb active function?

BACKGROUND: Spasticity following lesions of the central nervous system such as stroke is a major cause of impairment and disability, especially when it affects the upper limb, and can be focally relieved by intramuscular injections of botulinum toxin (BT). Functional improvements of the affected upper limb after a BT focal treatment remain controversial. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to assess the functional effects of BT treatment on upper-limb spasticity in the literature, identify flaws and deficiencies in proving these effects and propose leads for future trials. METHODS: We searched the MEDLINE and Cochrane databases for trials, reviews and meta-analyses assessing the effect of BT injection in upper-limb spasticity. This was a non-systematic narrative review, and the selection of articles was based on the authors' expertise. The review focused on stroke-related spasticity and disability. RESULTS: Patients' therapeutic targets involved use of the disability assessment scale (DAS) or goal attainment scale (GAS). Impairments and passive function goals prevailed for active function and participation and were more frequently achieved for the former than the latter. Meta-analyses showed no to mild effect sizes for improvement in upper-limb function but failed to show higher and/or better use of the paretic upper limb in activities of daily living after BT injection. CONCLUSION: BT injections for impairment and passive function are related to improved kinematic parameters; however, the relation between relief of spasticity and improved upper-limb activity has not been established. Possible explanations for the lack of functional effect in studies are first, disability is mainly due to muscle weakness rather than spasticity, so patients with the best underlying motricity may benefit the most from BT injections; second, assessment methods may not be adapted to screen eligible patients; third, most studies' endpoints were at 4 to 12 weeks after a single injection, but repeated treatment sessions might be needed to observe functional outcome on the upper limbs; and finally, the association of rehabilitation programs or non-pharmacological treatments may enhance the functional effects of BT injections.

Exoskeleton and End-Effector Robots for Upper and Lower Limbs Rehabilitation: Narrative Review.

Recovery of upper and lower limbs function is essential to reach independence in daily activities in patients with upper motor neuron syndrome (UMNS). Rehabilitation can provide a guide for motor recovery influencing the neurobiology of neuronal plasticity providing controlled, repetitive, and variable patterns. Increasing therapy dosage, intensity, number of repetition, execution of task-oriented exercises, and combining top-down and bottom-up approaches can promote plasticity and functional recovery. Robotic exoskeletons for upper and lower limbs, based on the principle of motor learning, have been introduced in neurorehabilitation. In this narrative review, we provide an overview of literature published on exoskeleton devices for upper and lower limb rehabilitation in patients with UMNS; we summarized the available current research evidence and outlined the new challenges that neurorehabilitation and bioengineering will have to face in the upcoming years. Robotic treatment should be considered a rehabilitation tool useful to generate a more complex, controlled multisensory stimulation of the patient and useful to modify the plasticity of neural connections through the experience of movement. Efficacy and efficiency of robotic treatment should be defined starting from intensity, complexity, and specificity of the robotic exercise, that are related to human-robot interaction in terms of motion, emotion, motivation, meaning of the task, feedback from the exoskeleton, and fine motion assistance. Duration of a single session, global period of the treatment, and the timing for beginning of robotic treatment are still open questions. There is the need to evaluate and individualize the treatment according to patient's characteristics. Robotic devices for upper and lower limbs open a window to define therapeutic modalities as possible beneficial drug, able to boost biological, neurobiological, and epigenetic changes in central nervous system. We need to implement large and innovative research programs to answer these issues in the near future.

Automatic Setting Procedure for Exoskeleton-Assisted Overground Gait: Proof of Concept on Stroke Population.

Stroke-related locomotor impairments are often associated with abnormal timing and intensity of recruitment of the affected and non-affected lower limb muscles. Restoring the proper lower limbs muscles activation is a key factor to facilitate recovery of gait capacity and performance, and to reduce maladaptive plasticity. Ekso is a wearable powered exoskeleton robot able to support over-ground gait training. The user controls the exoskeleton by triggering each single step during the gait cycle. The fine-tuning of the exoskeleton control system is crucial-it is set according to the residual functional abilities of the patient, and it needs to ensure lower limbs powered gait to be the most physiological as possible. This work focuses on the definition of an automatic calibration procedure able to detect the best Ekso setting for each patient. EMG activity has been recorded from Tibialis Anterior, Soleus, Rectus Femoris, and Semitendinosus muscles in a group of 7 healthy controls and 13 neurological patients. EMG signals have been processed so to obtain muscles activation patterns. The mean muscular activation pattern derived from the controls cohort has been set as reference. The developed automatic calibration procedure requires the patient to perform overground walking trials supported by the exoskeleton while changing parameters setting. The Gait Metric index is calculated for each trial, where the closer the performance is to the normative muscular activation pattern, in terms of both relative amplitude and timing, the higher the Gait Metric index is. The trial with the best Gait Metric index corresponds to the best parameters set. It has to be noted that the automatic computational calibration procedure is based on the same number of overground walking trials, and the same experimental set-up as in the current manual calibration procedure. The proposed approach allows supporting the rehabilitation team in the setting procedure. It has been demonstrated to be robust, and to be in agreement with the current gold standard (i.e., manual calibration performed by an expert engineer). The use of a graphical user interface is a promising tool for the effective use of an automatic procedure in a clinical context.

Wearable robotic exoskeleton for overground gait training in sub-acute and chronic hemiparetic stroke patients: preliminary results.

BACKGROUND: Recovery of therapeutic or functional ambulatory capacity in post-stroke patients is a primary goal of rehabilitation. Wearable powered exoskeletons allow patients with gait dysfunctions to perform over-ground gait training, even immediately after the acute event. AIM: To investigate the feasibility and the clinical effects of an over-ground walking training with a wearable powered exoskeleton in sub-acute and chronic stroke patients. DESIGN: Prospective, pilot pre-post, open label, non-randomized experimental study. SETTING: A single neurological rehabilitation center for inpatients and outpatients. POPULATION: Twenty-three post-stroke patients were enrolled: 12 sub-acute (mean age: 43.8±13.3 years, 5 male and 7 female, 7 right hemiparesis and 5 left hemiparesis) and 11 chronic (mean age: 55.5±15.9 years, 7 male and 4 female, 4 right hemiparesis and 7 left hemiparesis) patients. METHODS: Patients underwent 12 sessions (60 min/session, 3 times/week) of walking rehabilitation training using Ekso™, a wearable bionic suit that enables individuals with lower extremity disabilities and minimal forearm strength to stand up, sit down and walk over a flat hard surface with a full weight-bearing reciprocal gait. Clinical evaluations were performed at the beginning of the training period (t0), after 6 sessions (t1) and after 12 sessions (t2) and were based on the Ashworth scale, Motricity Index, Trunk Control Test, Functional Ambulation Scale, 10-Meter Walking Test, 6-Minute Walking Test, and Walking Handicap Scale. Wilcoxon's test (P<0.05) was used to detect significant changes. RESULTS: Statistically significant improvements were observed at the three assessment periods for both groups in Motricity Index, Functional Ambulation Scale, 10-meter walking test, and 6-minute walking test. Sub-acute patients achieved statistically significant improvement in Trunk Control Test and Walking Handicap Scale at t0-t2. Sub-acute and chronic patient did not achieve significant improvement in Ashworth scale at t0-t2. CONCLUSIONS: Twelve sessions of over-ground gait training using a powered wearable robotic exoskeleton improved ambulatory functions in sub-acute and chronic post-stroke patients. Large, randomized multicenter studies are needed to confirm these preliminary data. CLINICAL REHABILITATION IMPACT: To plan a completely new individual tailored robotic rehabilitation strategy after stroke, including task-oriented over-ground gait training.

Pituitary dysfunction and its association with quality of life in traumatic brain injury.

BACKGROUND: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a major cause of death and disability and may cause transient or persistent, isolated or multiple hypopituitarism in a variable percentage of cases. OBJECTIVES: The primary aim of this study was to determine the incidence of isolated and multiple anterior pituitary hormone deficiency in subjects with TBI in a single institution. The secondary aim was to determine a correlation between pituitary deficiency and quality of life (QOL) after TBI. METHODS: Thirty-five patients, aged between 18 and 63 years, were evaluated 6months to 5 years after TBI. We evaluated the QOL by SF-12(®) questionnaire and measured serum basal GH, IGF1, LH, FSH, testosterone (in males), 17-ß-estradiol (in women), PRL, fT4 and TSH. In patients with low IGF1, a GHRH + Arginine test was performed. RESULTS: Single or multiple pituitary failure was found in 13 patients (37%). Low testosterone was found in 7 males, low FSH and/or LH in 4, low IGF1 in 7 patients. Hypogonadotropic hypogonadism and GH insufficiency assessed by GHRH + Arginine test were found respectively in 3 and 2 patients. One patient displayed a concomitant GH insufficiency and low TSH level. Twenty six patients showed a reduction in QOL. A correlations between altered QOL and hormonal deficiency was not observed. CONCLUSIONS: Isolated or multiple hypopituitarism resulting from TBI are frequent. Alterations in QOL and pituitary function resulting from TBI are not associated.

Proximal femur geometry assessed by hip structural analysis in hip fracture in women.

INTRODUCTION: In the pathogenesis of hip fracture, proximal femur geometry plays a key role as well as decreased bone density. The hip structural analysis (HSA) processes dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) images containing information on the geometry closely related to the strength of the proximal femur. The objective of this study was to investigate bone mineral density (BMD) and mechanical properties of the proximal femur in a group of women with a previous contralateral hip fragility fracture compared to women without history of hip fracture. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In a population of postmenopausal women, we evaluated bone density by DXA and bone geometry using the HSA parameters (femoral strength index, cross-sectional moment of inertia, cross-sectional area, section modulus, and buckling ratio) including hip axis length (HAL) and neck shaft angle. RESULTS: Of a total of 62 postmenopausal women, twenty-six with a history of hip fracture had a mean femoral neck BMD significantly lower in comparison with 36 women in the control group (0.703 versus 0.768 g/cm(2), p = 0.0347). There was a statistically significant difference between groups also for HAL (106.75 mm in fracture group versus 100.93 mm in control group, p = 0.0015). DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: Our results demonstrated that all the geometrical parameters resulted worst into the group of patients with history of hip fracture, even though only the HAL was significantly lower in control subjects. In our opinion HSA is useful to characterize the risk of hip fracture in postmenopausal women, providing additional data on the spatial distribution of bone mass strongly related to bone strength.