Interventional Spasticity Management for Enhancing Patient – Physician Communications

Stroke is the third most common cause of death in the Western world, behind heart disease and cancer, and accounts for over half of all neurologic admissions to community hospitals. Spasticity is commonly defined as excessive motor activity characterized by a velocity-dependent increase in tonic stretch reflexes. It is often associated with exaggerated tendon jerks, and is often accompanied by abnormal cutaneous and autonomic reflexes, muscle weakness, lack of dexterity, fatigability, and co-contraction of agonist and antagonist muscles. It is a common complication of central nervous system disorders, including stroke, traumatic brain injury, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, anoxic brain injury, spinal cord injury, primary lateral sclerosis, and hereditary spastic hemiparesis. Leg muscle activation during locomotion is produced by spinal neuronal circuits within the spinal cord, the spinal pattern generator [central pattern generator (CPG)]. For the control of human locomotion, afferent information from a variety of sources within the visual, vestibular, and proprioceptive systems is utilized by the CPGs. Findings of this research can be applied to older adults in longitudinal home care who suffer spasticity caused by stroke.