A Patient with Post-stroke Right Hemiplegia who Showed Gait Instability because of Trailing of the Right Foot due to Abnormal Muscle Tone of the Right Hip Adductors and Extensors between the Terminal Swing to Midstance Phases of the Right Lower Limb

Abstract

We administered physical therapy to a patient with hemiplegia caused by cerebrovascular disease. The patient presented to us with unstable gait due to the trailing of the right foot between the initial contact and midstance phases of the right lower limb. With physical therapy, the instability improved; however, abnormal muscle tone of the right hip extensors and adductors was noticed between the initial contact and midstance phases of the right lower limb. Improvement after physical therapy was monitored by electromyography, which focused on the right hip joint. The activity of muscles on the affected side improved along with the improvement in the muscle activation pattern of the right hip extensors and adductors between the initial contact and midstance phases of the right lower limb. We believe that the normalization of the muscle activation pattern was important for the improvement in the gait of this patient.