康复学报 (Oct 2021)
Clinical Application of Laser Walking Stick in Subacute Hemiplegia Walking Training
Abstract
Objective: To observe the clinical application of laser cane in walking training of hemiplegic patients, and to explore the effect of a new visual cue device on the recovery of walking ability of hemiplegic patients.MethodsA total of 36 patients with subacute hemiplegia who met the inclusion criteria were randomly divided into observation group and control group, with 18 cases in each group. Both groups received walking training once a day for 3 weeks, 30 min each time. The observation group was trained with a laser cane, a laser emitter on the top of the stick fired two parallel rays and projected them onto the ground at a distance of 20 cm. Methods were as followed: at first, the patients were told to step forward with affected foot and make the toes as close to the rear red line as possible, and the toes of the healthy side were between the two parallel red lines; secondly, the patients were told to put the affected toes between the parallel red lines, and the healthy toes exceeded the front red line; finally, the patients were instructed to gradually increase the stride length of the affected side to similar to that of the healthy side. The control group used an ordinary cane and received appropriate verbal cues. The walking functions of two groups were evaluated before and after training, including 10 m walk test, 6-minute walk test, Berg balance scale (BBS) and functional ambulation category (FAC), and the evaluation results were compared.ResultsAfter 3 weeks of training, the walking functions of patients in both groups were improved. 10 m walk test, 6-minute walk test and BBS scores were significantly improved, and the differences before and after training were compared and analyzed with statistical significance (P<0.05). After training, 10 m walk test, 6-minute walk test and BBS scores in the observation group were significant higher (P<0.05) than those in the control group. After training, there was no statistically significant difference in the FAC between the two groups (P>0.05).ConclusionIn the walking training of hemiplegic patients in subacute stage, walking stick with laser visual cue is helpful to improve the short distance walking speed, long distance walking efficiency, and balance function of patients. This method is simple and feasible, and worthy of clinical promotion.
