Effect of Single Session of Prolonged Muscle Stretch on Spastic Plantarflexors of Children with Quadriplegic and Diplegic Spastic Cerebral Palsy

The control of spasticity is often a significant problem in the management of patients with cerebral palsy which hinders in achieving functional goals and mobility. The Purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of prolonged muscle stretch on ankle plantar flexors spasticity. Twenty patients suffering from diplegia and quadriplegia spastic Cerebral Palsy was enrolled which were divided into two groups. One group received prolonged muscle stretch of the plantar-flexors of the ankle in the standing position on tilt table with ankle dorsiflexed and second group received Conventional Physiotherapy for 45 minutes per session per day for 5 days a week for 2 weeks. The following evaluations were done before and after treatment. Spastic hypertonia was assessed by the Modified Ashworth Scale (MAS; range, 1-3). The Result indicated no significant reduction in MAS score for ankle plantar flexors spasticity (p>0.05). These results suggested that there is no effect of the prolonged muscle stretch in reducing spasticity in patients with spastic cerebral palsy.