| Objective: To investigate the clinical effects of mirror therapy combined with pneumatic hand rehabilitation glove on the severity of hand swelling, pain, hand function, and activities of daily living (ADL) in patients with shoulder-hand syndrome (SHS) after stroke. Methods: A total of 48 patients with SHS after stroke admitted to our hospital from August 2020 to June 2022 were recruited and randomly divided into observation group (n=24) and control group (n=24). The patients in both groups received routine physical treatment at first. In the control group, patients received pneumatic hand rehabilitation glove therapy. In the observation group, patients received mirror therapy and pneumatic glove treatment at the same time. The patients of both groups received continuous treatment for 4 weeks. We evaluated the severity of hand swelling (circumferential measurements at the metacarpophalangeal joint, figure-of-eight method), visual simulation evaluation (VAS), Ueda Satoshi hand function score (MFT), and modified Barthel index (MBI) before and after treatment. Results: After 4 weeks of treatment, MFT, MBI, hand swelling severity and VAS scores in both groups were significantly improved as compared with those before treatment (all P<0.05), and the MFT, MBI and hand swelling degree in the observation group were better than those in the control group (all P<0.05). VAS scores after treatment exhibited no significant differences between the two groups. Conclusion: The mirror therapy combined with pneumatic hand rehabilitation glove could improve ADL and hand function of the patients and reduce the severity of hand swelling. |
