Effect of FES in rehabilitation of cerebral palsy children by analysis of surface EMG in tibialis anterior muscle

In this study we have evaluated the efficacy of Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) in the rehabilitation of spastic Cerebral Palsy (CP) children, by surface electromyographic (sEMG) analysis of the Tibialis Anterior (TA) muscles. Ten children with spastic diaplegic/hemiplegic cerebral palsy within the age group of 5 to 14 years received both FES for 30 minutes and the conventional physiotherapy for 30 minutes a day, for 5 days a week, up to 12 weeks. The measurement of electromyography (EMG) of both the baseline (at the initiation) and post treatment (after intervention) were obtained. These data were analysed for both amplitude and frequency related parameters. The results report a rise in Root Mean Square (RMS), Mean Absolute Value (MAV), EMG peak amplitude and Integrated EMG (IEMG) values. Improvement was also seen in Median Frequency (MDF), Mean Frequency (MNF) and the total power of the EMG power spectrum. Hence we can conclude that FES combined with conventional physiotherapy improves the muscle strength in spastic CP children.