Feasibility and safety of Robot Suit HAL treatment for adolescents and adults with cerebral palsy. (October 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Ueno, Tomoyuki; Watanabe, Hiroki; Kawamoto, Hiroaki; Shimizu, Yukiyo; Endo, Ayumu; Shimizu, Tomoe; Ishikawa, Kimihisa; Kadone, Hideki; Ohto, Tatsuyuki; Kamada, Hiroshi; Marushima, Aiki; Hada, Yasushi; Muroi, Ai; Sankai, Yoshiyuki; Ishikawa, Eiichi; Matsumura, Akira; Yamazaki, Masashi
• Is Part Of: Journal of clinical neuroscience. Volume 68(2019)
• Page Start: 101
• Page End: 104
• Publication Date: 2019-10
• Subjects: Gait disorders -- Cerebral palsy -- Robot-assisted gait therapy; Brain -- Surgery -- Periodicals; Neurosciences -- Periodicals; Nervous system -- Surgery -- Periodicals; Brain -- surgery -- Periodicals; Neurosurgical Procedures -- Periodicals; Neurosciences -- Periodicals; Electronic journals; 616.8
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jocn.2019.07.026
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0967-5868

Abstract

Highlights: All participants completed the HAL-treatment despite some mild adverse events occurring. HAL-treatment improved comfortable gait speed, step length, and cadence. HAL-treatment is safe and feasible for gait disorders in patients with CP. Abstract: To investigate whether Robot Suit HAL treatment (HAL-T) is safe and feasible for gait disorders in adolescents and adults with cerebral palsy (CP). We tested HAL-T in adolescents and adults with bilateral spastic CP (four men, four women; mean age: 18.2 years). Three participants were classified as level III under the Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS), and five were classified as level IV. The participants underwent HAL-T twice per week for 4 weeks. The outcome measures, which were assessed before and after HAL-T, included comfortable gait speed (CGS), step length (SL), cadence, and GMFCS level. Adverse events were noted. All participants completed the HAL-T sessions despite some mild adverse events occurring. The mean increases in CGS, SL, and cadence were 0.19 ± 0.14 m/s (p = 0.006), 0.09 ± 0.08 m (p = 0.020), and 18.0 ± 15.9 steps/min (p = 0.015), respectively. HAL-T is safe and feasible for gait disorders in patients with CP. HAL-T can significantly improve CGS, SL, and cadence and may be effective for improving walking ability in adolescents and adults with CP.