Standard early rehabilitation and lower limb transcutaneous nerve or neuromuscular electrical stimulation in acute stroke patients: a randomized controlled pilot study:

Objective:We investigated adding lower limb transcutaneous nerve stimulation or neuromuscular electrical stimulation to standard early rehabilitation in acute stroke patients.Design:An assessor-blinded, randomized controlled pilot study.Setting:A medical stroke center.Subjects:First-stroke patients aged 20–80 years admitted to the stroke center within 24 hours post stroke.Interventions:A total of 42 participants were randomly assigned to groups: transcutaneous nerve stimulation + standard early rehabilitation, neuromuscular electrical stimulation + standard early rehabilitation, or standard early rehabilitation-only. Transcutaneous nerve or neuromuscular electrical stimulation was delivered to the affected tibialis anterior and quadriceps muscles for 30 minutes a day, five days per week for two weeks.Main measures:The Postural Assessment Scale for Stroke Patients, the Functional Independence Measure, and three mobility milestones, namely, sitting for >five minutes, standing for >one minute, and walking ⩾5...