Upper Limb Rehabilitation in First Year After Stroke Using Modern Treatment Strategies - a Single Case Study

Stroke is a major cause of disability in worldwide, causing billions of euros direct and indirect costs to the community. Upper limb motor dysfunction is seen in about 50% stroke survivors. Upper extremity paresis is identified as a strong component for performing activities of daily living (ADL) (Veerbeek 2011). Upper-limb rehabilitation is crucial during the first three to six months since the onset of stroke because the motor and ADL-performance recovery of stroke survivors declines afterward (Kwakkel \& Kollen, 2013, Wade et al., 1983). The main advantages of using robot-assisted therapy are to deliver high-dosage and high-intensity training (Sivan et al., 2011). Robot-assisted training enables a greater number of repetitive tasks to be practised in a consistent and controllable manner. A dose of greater than 20 h of repetitive task training improves upper limb motor recovery following a stroke (Pollock 2014) and, therefore, robot-assisted training has the potential to improve arm motor recovery after stroke. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is the field of interest and is incorporated to stroke rehabilitation in many institutes. Low-frequency rTMS to the unaffected hemisphere could normalize the inhibitory imbalance between hemispheres (Adeyemo et al., 2012). The safety and application guidelines of transcranial magnetic stimulation were extensively reviewed by Rossi et al. (2009). It is opposed that there is no effect of rTMS alone on upper extremity (UE) disabilities, but rTMS in combination with another rehabilitation treatment potentiates the effect of the rehabilitation treatment alone with regards to UE impairment. There is inconclusive evidence that the combined treatment (rTMS + conventional rehabilitation) have effect on UE disabilities. Treatment effects have been described in acute, subacute and chronic stroke patients, though it is proposed, that there is lack of late subacute phase rTMS studies that used FMA for outcome measure (van Lieshout, 2019). In this single-case study the investigators compare different rehabilitation modules - self exercising (baseline), robot assisted training, rTMS and intensive motor training guided by therapist, to improve the use of paretic hand. The aim of this study is to show if there is clinically relevant improvement of the motion or function of upper extremity in different treatment strategies and if any of these treatment is superior to self-training.