A New Method for Postural Misalignment of a 6-Year-Old Girl With Cerebral Palsy: A Case Report.
Ying Hou, Huitian Zheng, Jinping Li and 5 others
PMID 34179752WHAT IT FOUND
In a single 6-year-old girl with cerebral palsy, Constraint Standing Training improved knee hyperextension and flexed-knee gait.
She walked stairs independently after 4 weeks. This is one case, not proof that the method works for others.
Key findings
01The knee hyperextension angle improved from 27.8 degrees to 1.8 degrees, and the plantigrade angle improved from 102.1 degrees to 89.0 degrees after the training.
02The left knee flexion angle at initial contact during walking improved from 35.0 degrees to 13.8 degrees, and the right improved from 36.4 degrees to 10.5 degrees.
03The participant could walk up and down stairs independently after 4 weeks of the training.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
The study included only one participant, so the results cannot be generalized to other children with cerebral palsy. The participant did not complete the full 12-week protocol, stopping after 8 weeks due to school. The evaluators of the outcome measures were not blinded to the treatment. Advanced assessment tools like motion capture or electromyography were not used.
Declared interests
No conflicts of interest or funding sources are explicitly declared in the provided text.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume this training will produce similar dramatic improvements in posture and gait for your patients. This is a single case report with no control group, so the observed changes could be due to natural development, the Hawthorne effect, or other unmeasured factors.