Trunk Muscle Activation in Reaching Movement in Individuals with Spinal Cord Injuries Involving Functional Banding: EMG Analysis

Abstract

AbstractFunctional banding (BF) theoretically enhances or inhibits muscle activity in accordance with the direction and tension generated. In the literature a few articles were published, and, in the vast majority, using healthy subjects (without neurological injury) and electromyographic (EMG) analysis to check the muscles electrical activity. Studies conducted with individuals with spinal cord injury were not found. Type of Study: Serie of Cases. It was evaluated as dependent variables: muscle activity measured by EMG surface of the lower trapezius muscles, lumbar erectors and Iliocostalis bilaterally, and the distance of the functional reaching movement. Five individuals with spinal cord injuries with movements and sufficient mobility of the upper limbs to perform the reaching movement and 4 without injury. The reaching test with electromyographic evaluation was performed in three moments: Reaching without BF, reaching with BF and again reaching without BF. In qualitative analysis there seems to have been influenced by the bandage on temporal aspects of muscle activation. Quantitatively, there was no statistical difference in the RMS values and in the results of the reaching tests. The bandage seems to influence in the temporal parameters of muscle activation, being required a larger sample to show quantitative differences in muscle activation and the reaching tests performance. Keywords: Athletic Tape. Electromyography. Career Mobility. Resumo A bandagem funcional (BF) teoricamente aumenta ou inibe atividade muscular de acordo com o direcionamento e tensao gerada. Na literatura foram publicados poucos artigos, e, na grande maioria, utilizando sujeitos saudaveis (sem lesao neurologica) e analise eletromiografica (EMG) para verificar a atividade eletrica dos musculos. Estudos feitos com individuos com lesao medular nao foram encontrados. Tipo de Estudo: Serie de casos. Foi avaliado como variaveis dependentes: atividade muscular medida por EMG de superficie dos musculos trapezio inferior, eretores lombares e iliocostais bilateralmente, e distância do alcance funcional. Cinco individuos com lesao medular com movimentos e mobilidade suficiente de membros superiores para realizar o alcance e 4 sem lesao. O teste de alcance com avaliacao eletromiografica foi realizado em tres momentos: Alcance sem BF, alcance com BF e novamente alcance sem BF. Em analise qualitativa parece ter havido influencia da bandagem sobre aspectos temporais da ativacao muscular. Quantitativamente nao houve diferenca estatistica nos valores de RMS e nos resultados dos testes de alcance. A bandagem parece influenciar em parâmetros temporais da ativacao muscular, sendo necessaria uma amostra maior para visualizar diferencas quantitativas na ativacao muscular e no desempenho dos testes de alcance. Palasvras-chave: Fita Atletica. Eletromiografia. Mobilidade Ocupacional.