Rehabilitation of walking with electromyographic biofeedback in foot-drop after stroke

Background and Purpose Alterations of gait cycle and foot-drop on the paretic limb are characteristic of stroke patients. Electromyographic biofeedback treatment has been used in rehabilitation of walking, but results are controversial. We performed gait analysis to evaluate the efficacy of electromyo­graphic biofeedback compared with physical therapy. Methods Sixteen patients with ischemic stroke were en­rolled in the study. The experimental group (4 men, 4 women) received electromyographic biofeedback treatment together with physical therapy. The control group (5 men, 3 women) was treated with physical therapy only. Clinical and functional evaluations before and after treatment were performed using Canadian Neurological, Adams, Ashworth, Basmajian, and Barthel Index scales. Computerized gait analysis was per­formed in all patients. Results Electromyographic biofeedback patients showed significantly increased scores on the Adams scale (P