RAS in the Aspect of Symmetrization of Lower Limb Loads

Abstract

According to the World Health Organization, a disabled person is anyone whose performance, or fitness is affected by reduced functioning of the body – psychologically, physically or anatomically. On a world scale, one of the main causes of acquired motor disability is ischemic stroke and the most common complication is symmetry disturbances in the individual phases of the gait cycle, uneven loading of the lower limbs, and impaired gait length. The most important step is to restore physiological walking patterns, build proper muscle tone in the inferior limb, directly affected, improve balance and restore the function of independent and safe movement. Nowadays, there are many methods to restore the motor skills of a post–stroke patient. The most popular of them are PNF (Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation) and NDT–Bobath. However, rehabilitation of patients after stroke is not limited to motor rehabilitation, but also it consists of stimulation of the patient with external stimuli, such as Rhythmic Auditory Stimulation (RAS). This paper presents a pilot study conducted on a group of 3 stroke patients undergoing rehabilitation with the use of RAS. People under the supervision of an experienced physiotherapist performed four exercises in two series – without and with metrorhythmic stimulation. Simultaneously, the substrate reaction was measured on the Zebris FDM–S stabilographic platform. On the basis of conducted pilot studies, it is impossible to indicate the unequivocal impact of RAS on the symmetrization of lower limb loads during physiotherapy exercises in patients after stroke.