The Effects of Continuous Passive Motion on Hypertonia of Soleus in Individuals With Cerebral Palsy

Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of disorders of the development of movement and posture but often changing motor impairment syndromes. The spastic subtypes are the most common manifestations of cerebral palsy who perform movement difficultly due to hypertonia. Decease of spinal cord pathway, hyperactivity of alpha and gamma motoneuron and reduction of presynaptic inhibition may cause tendon reflex increase and hypertonia in individuals with CP. There are many ways to improve the hypertonia. In the past studies, the fast repeated range of motion could reduce muscle's activation effectively. The polyarticular movement training might increase joint range of motion and reduce the muscle activation. But the polyarticular movement training is difficulty for some individuals with CP. The single joint movement training may achieve the same effect as the polyarticular movement training. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of continuation passive range of motion (CPM) training whether could get the improvement of soleus hypertonia in individuals with CP.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Clinical diagnosis of Spastic CP
• Modified Ashworth scale of Soleus > 1
• Ankle range of motion > 10 degrees

Exclusion Criteria:

• Fracture on lower Lower extremities
• BOTOX on ankle < 5 mouths