Effects of an Early Radial Shock Waves Therapy on Spasticity of the Upper Limb and on Functional Outcome in Patients With Stroke in Subacute Phase

Hands and wrist spasticity are a common post stroke complication and often lead to restrictions in daily living activities. Spasticity causes changes in muscle composition such as accumulation of collagenous connective tissue and progressive loss of skeletal muscle fibres and these changes start almost immediately after a vascular event. Radial Shock Wave Therapy (rSWT) is a valid alternative rehabilitating tool in managing chronic spasticity but no study has so far investigated the effect in a recently onset hemiparesis. The aim of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of an early radial shock wave therapy in improving spasticity of the upper limb in patients with a recent onset stroke. The secondary outcome is to investigate the improvement of upper limb motor functionality, passive range of motion and joint pain and to determine if it can lead to a better performance in daily living activities. This study is a randomized controlled trial double arm single blind. The investigators plan to enrol 40 hemiplegic patients with sub-acute stroke and randomly assign them to an experimental or control group. The experimental group (EG) will perform one radial shock wave therapy session a week for 8 weeks administered during the daily morning 40 minutes of conventional rehabilitation treatment. The control group (CG) 40-minutes of conventional rehabilitation treatment for 5 days per week in the morning for 8 weeks. All patients performed in the afternoon a second daily session of 40 minutes of conventional rehabilitation therapy 5 days per week. The Modified Ashworth Scale (MAS), Fugl-Meyer Assessment Upper Extremity (FMA-UE) (with motricity, Passive Range of Motion (PROM) and pain sub-scores of upper extremity part of the scale), Modified Barthel Index and Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) for patient's benefit perceived, will be evaluated before and a week after the last intervention. MAS will be administered once a week, before rSWT treatment. The investigators plan to have a 1 month follow up during which every outcome measure will be administered. The investigators hypothesize that radial shock waves therapy, started early and associated with traditional physiotherapy, may be more effective in promoting the reduction of spasticity and pain of the upper limb, improve its functionality and therefore a reduction in disability, compared to conventional rehabilitation treatment. A reduction in the use of analgesic and muscle relaxants drugs is also conceivable