Affiliations: [a]
Department of Physical Therapy for Neuromuscular Disorders and its Surgery, Faculty of Physical Therapy, Deraya University, Minya, Egypt
| [b]
Department of Physical Therapy for Internal Medicine, Chest and Cardiology, Faculty of Physical Therapy, Deraya University, Minya, Egypt
| [c]
Department of Physical Therapy for Basic Science, Faculty of Physical Therapy, Deraya University, Minya, Egypt | [d]
Department of Physical Therapy for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Faculty of Physical Therapy, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt
| [e]
Department of Physical Therapy for Neuromuscular Disorders and its Surgery, Faculty of Physical Therapy, Sphinx University, Assuit, Egypt
Correspondence:
[*]
Address for correspondence: Tarek H. Mahmoud, Department of Physical Therapy for Internal Medicine, Chest and Cardiology, Faculty of Physical Therapy, Deraya University, Minya, Egypt. E-mail: drtarek_moo@yahoo.com.
Abstract: BACKGROUND:Spasticity is a common symptom of multiple sclerosis (MS), affecting 80% of patients. Many studies have aimed to detect methods to reduce spasticity under these conditions and found that spasticity can be efficiently reduced using cryotherapy. OBJECTIVE:To examine the impact of cryotherapy on spasticity among patients with MS. METHODS:Thirty-two participants were randomized into two groups. The study group was given airflow cryotherapy and a selected physical therapy program, whereas the control group was only given a selected physical therapy program. The treatment was administered three times each week for a total of twelve consecutive sessions. The outcome measures were the modified Ashworth scale and the H/M ratio. RESULTS:The study group showed significant decrease in calf muscle spasticity, indicated by a reduction in spasticity grade (p = 0.001) and a decrease in the H/M ratio of 33.81% (p = 0.001). The control group also showed significant reduction in calf muscle spasticity, as indicated by a reduction in spasticity grade (p = 0.001) and a reduction in the H/M ratio of 19.58% (p = 0.001). There was a significant decrease in the spasticity grade and H/M ratio of the study group posttreatment compared with those of the control group (p = 0.02 and p = 0.001). CONCLUSION:The combined effect of cryotherapy and a selected physical therapy program are more effective in controlling the spasticity of calf muscles in patients with MS than a selected physical therapy program alone.
