Quantifying the magnitude of torque physiotherapists apply when stretching the hamstring muscles of people with spinal cord injury.
OBJECTIVE
To quantify the magnitude of stretch that physiotherapists apply to the hamstring muscles of people with spinal cord injury (SCI).


METHODS
Repeated-measures design.


METHODS
SCI unit in Australia.


METHODS
Fifteen individuals with motor complete paraplegia or tetraplegia.


METHODS
Twelve physiotherapists manually administered a stretch to the hamstring muscles of each subject. The stretch was applied by flexing the hip with the knee extended.


METHODS
Applied hip flexor torque.


RESULTS
Therapists applied median hip flexor torques of between 30 and 68Nm, although some torques were as large as 121Nm. The stretch applied by different therapists to any 1 subject varied as much as 40-fold.


CONCLUSIONS
There is a large range of stretch torques provided by physiotherapists to patients with SCI. Some therapists provide stretch torques well in excess of those tolerated by individuals with intact sensation.
Harvey
Lisa A
LA
Moorong Spinal Injury Unit, Royal Rehabilitation Centre Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
McQuade
Lea
L
Hawthorne
Scott
S
Byak
Adrian
A
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000328:Adult; D001315:Australia; D002983:Clinical Competence / Q000592:standards; D005081:Exercise Therapy / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006621:Hip Joint / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal; D018583:Pliability; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic / Q000592:standards; D016059:Range of Motion, Articular; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D013848:Thigh; D019415:Torque