Effectiveness of Pelvic Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation on Trunk Stability and Gait Parameter in Stroke Patients: A Systemic Review

Abstract

Background and Purpose: Neurological deficits after stroke are impaired motor functions including balance and gait. Such gait deviations are associated with decreased gait velocity followed by a change in the timing and distance with each step cover. The pelvic proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) facilitates the trunk and lower extremity motion and also provides the stability of trunk. The aim of this review is to systematically evaluate the effectiveness of Pelvic PNF on gait and trunk stability in stroke patients. Methods and Analysis: This systematic review was conducted according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Qualitative Systematic Reviews guidelines. The electronic databases were searched for a quality assessment from the start of databases with all studies of review interest being “Pelvic PNF” exercise, and the outcome of interest was related to trunk function and gait parameters. The characteristics of each study are outlined in Population, Intervention, Comparison and Outcome, and the findings using the Critical Appraisal Skills program for Randomized Controlled Trials were used to assess methodological quality. Results: The reviews in these studies were interest-related “Pelvic PNF.” The results of these reviews of all studies suggest that Pelvic PNF significantly improves trunk stability as well as gait parameters which proves this technique to be most applicable in stoke patients. Conclusion: This review had looked at the Pelvic PNF exercises to physiotherapy care for treatment of hemiparetic patients and demonstrated significant improvement in trunk stability and gait parameters such as cadence, gait velocity, and stride length.

Keywords

• critical appraisal skills program
• gait parameters
• pelvic proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation
• pico
• stroke
• trunk stability