Evaluation of the Efficacy of Extracorporeal Shock Wave Therapy (ESWT) Following Botulinum Toxin Type A Injection on Post-Stroke Ankle Plantar Flexor Spasticity

Group 1 (n:20): BoNT-A was injected into the affected gastrocnemius muscle under ultrasonography guidance at doses recommended by standard guidelines and appropriate for the patient (50 IU to the medial head, 25 IU to the lateral head). In addition, conventional physical therapy exercises (stretching exercises, range of motion (ROM) exercises, neurophysiologic exercises, and gait exercises) were applied to the patients five days a week for four weeks.

Group 2 (n:20): In addition to the treatments (BoNT-A injection and exercise) in Group 1, one week after the injection, a total of 4 sessions (2 days a week) of ESWT (1000 impulses with an energy density of 0.1 mj/mm2, pressure of 2 bar, and frequency of 4 Hz) were applied to the medial and lateral heads of the gastrocnemius muscle.

The patients in both groups underwent the following evaluations before treatment, at one month and three months after treatment by a treatment-blinded Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PMR) physician.

Patients' age, sex, occupation, hemiplegic sides, and etiology of hemiplegia were recorded. Physical examination was performed, and examination findings were recorded. The presence of post-treatment pain, redness, tenderness, or other adverse findings were questioned.

MAS, Brunnstrom Motor Recovery Stage(BMRS), ankle range of motion(ROM) measurement, clonus score(CS), Barthel Index(BI), Heckmatt measurements with ultrasonography, and visual analog scale(VAS) evaluations were performed on the patients.