Repetitive Peripheral Sensory Stimulation as an Add-On Intervention for Upper Limb Rehabilitation in Stroke: A Randomized Trial.

The trial was stopped early after 38 participants because of the pandemic, so it may have been underpowered. Attrition was 29.1%, comparable between groups, so the results may not apply to patients who cannot complete intensive rehabilitation. Both groups received functional electrical stimulation, task-specific training, and home instructions, so the contribution of any single component cannot be separated. Secondary strength analyses were exploratory and not corrected for multiple comparisons. Participants may have suspected whether they were in the active or sham group despite debriefing. The sham stimulation used lower limb nerves, so blinding may not have been equivalent to active hand stimulation. The trial was single-center, so results may not generalize to other settings.

The study received National Institutes of Health support. Dr. Machado reports an outside relationship with Enspire DBS and a patent issued to Cleveland Clinic. Dr. Liew reports National Institutes of Health grants during the study.

Do not conclude that repetitive peripheral sensory stimulation improves upper-limb function because the primary Wolf Motor Function Test outcome did not differ from sham. The strength findings were exploratory and not corrected for multiple comparisons, and both groups received functional electrical stimulation, task-specific training, and home instructions.