Application of early functional exercise in patients with shoulder-hand syndrome after acute stroke

Abstract

Objective To explore the effects of early functional exercise on the patients with shoulder-hand syndrome after acute stroke. Methods Totally 60 patients with shoulder-hand syndrome after acute stroke who were admitted in Zhejiang Hospital between January 2015 and January 2017 were prospectively selected and randomly divided into an observation group (n=30) and a control group (n=30) . Patients in the observation group performed early functional exercise, while patients in the control group received only routine nursing. The clinical effect was compared between the patients in the two groups. Results There was no statistically significant difference in the scores for the swelling of the limb, the range of movement of metacarpophalangeal joints and the simple upper limb function before the intervention (P>0.05) . After two weeks and four weeks of intervention, the swelling of the limb in the patients in the observation group was lower than that of the patients in the control group (P 0.05) . After four weeks of intervention, the patients in the observation group showed lower scores of anxiety and depression than the patients in the control group (P<0.05) . Conclusions Early functional exercise helps to improve the function of limbs, lower the level of anxiety and depression, and improve the quality of life in patients with shoulder-hand syndrome after acute stroke. Key words: Reflex sympathetic dystrophy; Anxiety; Depression; Acute stroke; Early functional exercise