Effect of Adeli suit treatment on gait in a child with cerebral palsy: a single-subject report

Abstract

The purpose of this research report is to investigate the long-term effect of Adeli suit treatment (AST) in a child with cerebral palsy (CP) on spatial-temporal gait parameters, 10-meter walking speed, gross motor functional measure (GMFM) and performance on the pediatric balance scale (PBS). An eight-year-old girl with spastic diplegia classified as level III on the Gross Motor Function Classification System participated in this single-subject A-B design study, with a baseline and an intervention phase. The baseline phase was collected at one-week intervals for six weeks and then the AST intervention phase was carried out with 18 AST sessions, 50 min per session, once a week for an 18-week period. Spatial-temporal gait parameters significantly improved after the completion of 18 sessions. Furthermore, 10-meter walking speed, GMFM and PBS changed significantly from the baseline measurement (p < 0.05). In conclusion, the AST was effective in improving gait, gross motor function and balance in a child with diplegic CP. Clinically, neuro-rehabilitation with AST provided a complementary and alternative treatment for lower extremity rehabilitation in this child with CP. These findings provide preliminary evidence supporting the effectiveness of AST in children with spastic CP, and thus underscore the need for additional research in this area.

Therapeutic interventions for trunk and improvement of posture in children with cerebral palsy: a review of the literature

“…According to a case report it is highlighted that after the planned treatment of 18 weeks there was improvement in GMFM-88 and enhanced postural balance. 64 The effectiveness of the Thera Suit is also observed in a clinical trial with bigger sample size which confirms the previous study. In that trial every patient underwent a detailed evaluation and case history in order to take part in the trial.…”

Effectiveness of therapeutic suits and intensive suit trainings in individuals with cerebral palsy and other neurological disorders: a scoping review

“…The measurement tools were GMFM in 5 studies exclusively or in combination with other tests, like PEdi and 3d gait analysis [3]; StepWatch activity monitor, Canadian occupational Performance Measure, and Pediatric outcomes data Collection instrument [30]; and PBS, 10-meter walking speed and gait parameters [18]. Semyonova and Antonova [43] used electroneuromyography and Shvarkov et al [22] measured the range, strength, and precision of movements, equilibration, and patients' mood.…”

“…one of the most significant ones is preventing muscle weakness or, in other words, strengthening the muscular system. This is a very important aim because muscular weakness, altered muscle tone, deficient postural control [1,17], limited passive joint mobility, and poor alignment [16] are common impairments in children and adults with CP [18]. Additionally, people with CP, in comparison with healthy children and adults, move at a slower speed and show a poor balance [19].…”

“…it was developed by Russian scientists from the Soviet space program to help cosmonauts with their problems caused by the effects of zero gravity [1,10,11,13,16,17,[21][22][23]. This orthotic device or dynamic orthosis consists of a vest, shorts, knee pieces, a head piece, and special shoes with hooks [1,17,18,24,25]. All these elements are linked, during the therapy, with elastic strings or bungee cords with varied levels of tension [14,18,24] to increase the body alignment and to provide proprioceptive information [3,10,11,21,23].…”

“…This orthotic device or dynamic orthosis consists of a vest, shorts, knee pieces, a head piece, and special shoes with hooks [1,17,18,24,25]. All these elements are linked, during the therapy, with elastic strings or bungee cords with varied levels of tension [14,18,24] to increase the body alignment and to provide proprioceptive information [3,10,11,21,23].…”