Constraint Induced Movement Techniques To Facilitate Upper Extremity Use in Stroke Patients.

A new therapeutic approach to the rehabilitation of movement after stroke, termed constraint-induced (CI) movement therapy, has been derived from basic research with monkeys given somatosensory deafferentation. CI movement therapy consists of a family of therapies; their common element is that they induce stroke patients to greatly increase the use of an affected upper extremity for many hours a day over a period of 10 to 14 consecutive days. The signature intervention involves motor restriction of the contralateral upper extremity in a sling and training of the affected arm. The therapies result in large changes in amount of use of the affected arm in the activities of daily living outside of the clinic that have persisted for the 2 years measured to date. Patients who will benefit from Cl therapy can be identified before the beginning of treatment.