Gabel CP, Rando N, Melloh M. Slacklining and stroke: A rehabilitation case study considering balance and lower limb weakness. World J Orthop 2016; 7(8): 513-518 [PMID: 27622153 DOI: 10.5312/wjo.v7.i8.513]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Charles P Gabel, MDT, PHD, Private Researcher, Coolum Physiotherapy Sunshine Coast, PO Box 760, Coolum Beach, Queensland 4573, Australia. cp.gabel@bigpond.com
Research Domain of This Article
Orthopedics
Article-Type of This Article
Case Report
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Orthop. Aug 18, 2016; 7(8): 513-518 Published online Aug 18, 2016. doi: 10.5312/wjo.v7.i8.513
Slacklining and stroke: A rehabilitation case study considering balance and lower limb weakness
Charles P Gabel, Natalie Rando, Markus Melloh
Charles P Gabel, Coolum Physiotherapy Sunshine Coast, Queensland 4573, Australia
Natalie Rando, Physiotherapy Program, Faculty of Health Science and Medicine, Bond University, Gold Coast, Queensland 4226, Australia
Markus Melloh, Centre for Health Sciences, School of Health Professions, Zurich University of Applied, Sciences, 8400 Winterthur, Switzerland
Markus Melloh, Centre for Medical Research, University of Western Australia, Nedlands 6909, Australia
Author contributions: Charles PG performed the rehabilitation exercises with the case study patient in the clinical setting; Markus M provided vital input for the manuscript content, references and editing of the manuscript; Natalie R provided specific vital input regarding neurological rehabilitation, referencing and editing of the manuscrip; all authors contributed to writing the manuscript.
Institutional review board statement: This case study was approved by the Coolum Physiotherapy Clinic through a clinical directors meeting to approve the study as part of a research initiative.
Informed consent statement: The patient has provided her informed consent.
Conflict-of-interest statement: No author has a conflict of interest for this study.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Charles P Gabel, MDT, PHD, Private Researcher, Coolum Physiotherapy Sunshine Coast, PO Box 760, Coolum Beach, Queensland 4573, Australia. cp.gabel@bigpond.com
Telephone: +61-7-54461022 Fax: +61-7-54717022
Received: January 23, 2016 Peer-review started: January 24, 2016 First decision: March 24, 2016 Revised: April 4, 2016 Accepted: June 14, 2016 Article in press: June 16, 2016 Published online: August 18, 2016
Core Tip
Core tip: Slacklining may supplement stroke rehabilitation where lower limb function is compromised. This case study considers an 87-year-old female with reduced balance, reduced lower limb activation, and hypertonia. Rehabilitation from acute care to home discharge and subsequent six-month intensive outpatient therapy showed progression then plateaued at nine months. Three falls resulted in regression and rehabilitation was modified by supplementing slacklining. Functional progression improved by 14 mo and was sustained at 18 mo. Slacklining’s external stimulations activate global-body responses through innate balance, optimal postural response and potentially down-regulated reflex control that can provide quantifiable functional gains. Further prospective cohort studies are required.
