Introduction: This study evaluated the degree of disability, pain levels, muscle strength, and electromyographic function (RMS) in individuals with leprosy. Methods: We assessed 29 individuals with leprosy showing common peroneal nerve damage and grade 1 or 2 disability who were referred for physiotherapeutic treatment, as well as a control group of 19 healthy participants without leprosy. All subjects underwent analyses of degree of disability, electromyographic tests, voluntary muscle force, and the Visual Analog Pain Scale. Results: McNemar's test found higher levels of grade 2 of disability (∆ = 75.9%; p = 0.0001) among individuals with leprosy. The Mann-Whitney test showed greater pain levels (∆ = 5.0; p = 0.0001) in patients with leprosy who had less extension strength in the right and left extensor hallucis longus muscles (∆ = 1.28, p = 0.0001; ∆ = 1.55, p = 0.0001, respectively) and dorsiflexion of the right and left feet (∆ = 1.24, p = 0.0001; ∆ = 1.45, p = 0.0001, respectively) than control subjects. The Kruskal-Wallis test showed that the RMS score for dorsiflexion of the right (∆ = 181.66 m·s -2 , p = 0.001) and left (∆ = 102.57m·s -2 , p = 0.002) feet was lower in patients with leprosy than in control subjects, but intragroup comparisons showed no difference. Conclusions: Leprosy had a negative influence on all of the study variables, indicating the need for immediate physiotherapeutic intervention in individuals with leprosy. This investigation opens perspectives for future studies that analyze leprosy treatment with physical therapeutic intervention.
Este estudo tem como objetivo avaliar o efeito da técnica de mobilização neural sobre a percepção da dor em portadores de hanseníase. A amostra de 56 indivíduos portadores de hanseníase foi randomizada em: grupo experimental (GMN) composto por 29 indivíduos submetidos ao tratamento com mobilização neural e grupo controle (GC) composto por 27 indivíduos que foram submetidos ao tratamento convencional. A percepção da dor foi avaliada através da Escala Visual Analógica, indicando-se em uma extremidade a marcação de ausência de dor e na outra, pior dor imaginável. O GMN foi submetido ao tratamento utilizando a técnica de mobilização neural, que consistiu de dezoito atendimentos (seis semanas), três vezes por semana. O GC foi submetido ao tratamento convencional com exercícios de flexibilidade, fortalecimento, com uso de exercitadores de tornozelo ou de recursos eletroterápicos. O GMN apresentou redução significativa (p=0,000) na percepção da dor ao comparar o pré e o pós-teste e na comparação com o GC no pós-teste. O GC não apresentou diferença significativa (p=0,520). Conclui-se que a utilização da técnica de mobilização neural promoveu redução nos níveis de dor em portadores de hanseníase.
Leprosy patients undergoing the technique of neural mobilization had an improvement in electromyography function and muscle strength, reducing disability degree and pain.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.