Functional electrical stimulation for the reduction of spasticity in the hemiplegic hand.

Functional electrical stimulation can be used to provide hand opening in hemiplegics with spastic finger flexor muscles through stimulation of the extensor digitorum communis (EDC) muscle and the ulnar nerve. Stimulation of the finger extensor muscles in both hemiplegics and nonneurologically impaired individuals does not appear to cause significant reciprocal inhibition of finger flexor muscles. Thus stimulation of the EDC and ulnar nerve may not decrease finger flexor spasticity in the hemiplegic subjects, yet functional hand opening can still be obtained through a direct mechanical effect of the extensor stimulation.