Locomotor therapy in neurorehabilitation

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Hesse, Stefan^{; *}

Affiliations: Klinik Berlin, Department of Neurological Rehabilitation, Free University Berlin, Berlin, Germany

Correspondence: [*] Klinik Berlin, Kladower Damm 223, 14089 Berlin, Germany. Tel.: +49 30 36503 105; Fax: +49 30 36503 123; E-mail: [email protected].

Abstract: Gait rehabilitation is a major aspect of neurological rehabilitation. This review is on locomotor therapy by treadmill stimulation with partial body weight support evolving as a very promising treatment concept over the last years. It enables severely affected patients the repetitive practice of complex gait cycles and thus follows modern aspects of motor learning favoring a task-specific approach. Several studies have shown its potential in patients after stroke, spinal cord injury, M. Parkinson and cerebral palsy. An electromechanical gait trainer relieving the strenuous effort of the therapists and controlling the trunk in a phase-dependent manner is a new alternative.

Keywords: locomotor therapy, treadmill training, body weight support, gait trainer, neurological rehabilitation

DOI: 10.3233/NRE-2001-16302

Journal: NeuroRehabilitation, vol. 16, no. 3, pp. 133-139, 2001