Possible Benefits of the Whole Body Vibration in the Treatment of Complications in Stroke Patients
Sebastião David Santos-Filho *
Department of Biophysics and Biometry, Institute of Biology Roberto Alcantara Gomes, State University Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.
Milena Oliveira Bravo Monteiro
Program in Medical Sciences, State University of Rio de Janeiro,Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.
Dulciane Nunes Paiva
University of Santa Cruz do Sul,Santa Cruz do Sul, RS, Brasil.
Adriano Arnóbio
Program in Medical Sciences, State University of Rio de Janeiro,Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil and State University of West Zone,Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.
Severo de Paoli
University Estacio of Sa, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.
Danúbia da Cunha Sá-Caputo
Department of Health Sciences, Federal University Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, RN, Brasil.
Eliane de Oliveira Guedes-Aguiar
Department of Health Sciences, Federal University Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, RN, Brasil.
Giuseppe Antonio Presta
Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro, Biomedical Institute, Department of Physiological Sciences, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.
Pedro J. Marin
Laboratory of Physiology, University Europeia Miguel de Cervantes,Valladolid, Spain.
Mario Bernardo-Filho
Department of Biophysics and Biometry, Institute of Biology Roberto Alcantara Gomes, State University Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Aims: A stroke is a neurological disorder and muscle weakness is the most prominent impairment. Whole-body vibration (WBV) is a possible modality of exercise that is useful for improving physical capacity, bone mass, balance, proprioception and the quality of life in healthy subjects and in patients with several diseases and among them, the neurological disorders. Considering the undesirable clinical conditions of the stroke patients, the aim of this review is to discuss about the benefits of the vibrations generated in the oscillating/vibratory platforms to those patients.
Methodology: A search was performed in the PubMed using the keywords stroke or "cerebrovascular accident" and "whole body vibration". An isolated search was performed with the term “whole body vibration”. Inclusion and exclusion criteria to select the publications were determined.
Results: It is found a limited number of publication involving WBV and the stroke with 16 articles. Of these, 9 publications were rejected for inclusion in this systematic review, due to they did not match the proposed inclusion criteria. Considering the studies that were analysed, about 57% of these have reported an improving in the clinical conditions of the stroke patients with statistical significance. Most probably the reason of the controversial results obtained with WBV findings can be attributed to the diversity of methods to measure the outcomes and the experimental design and the clinical characteristics of the subjects used, as well as the time elapsed post stroke.
Conclusion: Putting together the findings and considering the divergence of the results reported, it is suggested that the use of the vibration generated in the vibratory platform could be suitable to try to improve disorders of the stroke patients. However, it is important to consider the limited number of publications available in the PubMed involving searches evaluating the effect of the WBV in stroke patients.
Keywords: Stroke, whole body vibration, oscillating platform, neurological diseases.