Stroke is an acute impairment of circulation of blood in the brain and it impairs function of all brain or its separate parts. Furthermore, after stroke shows up paralysis of one body side and especially impairs arm function. That’s why the aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of early physiotherapy for arm function of patients after stroke. The goals of the research was: to evaluate motions of shoulder girdle, hand and complicated motions of arm before physiotherapy; to evaluate motions of shoulder girdle, hand and complicated motions of arm after physiotherapy; to estimate whether additional physiotherapy improved retraining of arm function. The research was performed in neurological department of Siauliai hospital. Sixty patients after cerebrovascular stroke took part in this study. They where grouped in two groups: thirty patients for control group and thirty patients for investigative group. For control group’s patients was applied a traditional physical therapy for retraining arm function. For investigative group besides the traditional physical therapy were applied additional physical therapy procedures accordingly to Carr and Shepherd (1990) for retraining arm function. Study used these research methods: evaluation of motions of shoulder girdle, evaluation of motions of hand, evaluation of complicated motions of arm and mathematical statistics. Arm function was evaluated by motion assessment scale. Several conclusions were made in summary of results of... [to full text]

Objective: gait of patients after stroke. Stroke is acute vascular disturbance in the brain, which involves sensory and motor systems of the opposite side to the brain lesion. Inability to walk or abnormal gait pattern is one of the biggest problem after cerebral vascular accident, which predispose the stoke survivors to a sedentary lifestyle, which further limits the individual’s activities of daily living and reduces cardiovascular reserves. One of the primary goals for physical therapy is to restore the ability to walk. It is the first step in becoming independent. In this case the main purposes of this study – to evaluate the influence of the physical therapy of gait of stoke patients. The tasks to reach the purpose of this study were: 1) to assess the effectiveness of special active walking exercises in order to regain the gait; 2) to assess the effectiveness of balance exercises in order to regain the gait; 3) to compare the effectiveness of different physiotherapy methods. The study was performed in physical medicine and rehabilitation department of Virsuziglis rehabilitation hospital. Thirty patients after cerebral vascular stoke, took part in this study. They were divided in two groups. The first group’s patients besides the traditional physical therapy performed special active walking exercises. The second group’s patients additionally were applied balance exercises. These used research methods: “Up and Go” test, Berg balance scale, motor assessment scale, Smidt... [to full text]