Effectiveness of Myofascial Release Technique (MFR) With Action Observation Therapy (AOT) On Hand Function Among Children with Hemiplegic Spastic Cerebral Palsy – A Randomized Control Trial

Introduction: Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of disorders affecting the development of movement and posture causing activity limitation due to non-progressive disturbances that occur in the developing fetal or infant brain. It develops due to damage to CNS and this damage can take place before, during or immediately after the birth of the child. CP involves a group of motor & sensory impairments as well as postural dysfunctions caused by a non-progressive lesion in the immature brain. Method: Randomized control trial was conducted on 35 hemiplegic CP individuals which were divided into two groups as Group A: Intervention group and Group B: Control group. Pre intervention Quality of Upper Extremity Skills Test (QUEST) was taken. Individuals in group A were given myofascial release therapy (MFR) along with action observation therapy (AOT). Individuals in group B were given conventional therapy. Post intervention QUEST result was taken. Result: Paired t test was performed. The test revealed statistically significant difference among both the groups between pre and post scores. The mean value of post treatment in QUEST scale in group A is more than group B indicating more improvement in hand function in group A than group B. The difference between pre and post values of QUEST scale were noted and they were compared between two groups with the help of unpaired t test. The test revealed statistically significant difference in group A than group B. Conclusion: It is concluded that MFR along with AOT is more effective to obtain the improvement in hand function among children with hemiplegic spastic CP. Key words: Hemiplegic Cerebral palsy, spastic cerebral palsy, myofascial release, action observation therapy, Quality of Upper Extremity Skills Test, hand function