The short-term effect of hippotherapy on spasticity in patients with spinal cord injury.
METHODS
Assessment of spasticity before and after hippotherapy treatment.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the short-term effect of hippotherapy on spasticity of spinal cord injured patients (SCIs).


METHODS
Swiss Paraplegic Centre, Nottwil.


METHODS
32 patients with spinal cord injury with various degrees of spasticity had repeated sessions (mean 11) of Hippotherapy-K. Spasticity of the lower extremities was scored according to the Ashworth Scale.


RESULTS
In primary rehabilitation patients Ashworth values after hippotherapy were significantly lower than before (Wilcoxon's signed-rank test: P<0.001). Highest improvements were observed in SCIs with very high spasticity. No significant difference between short-term effect in paraplegic and short-term effect in tetraplegic subjects was found.


CONCLUSIONS
Hippotherapy significantly reduces spasticity of lower extremities in SCIs.
Lechner
H E
HE
Institute for Clinical Research, Swiss Paraplegic Centre, Nottwil, Switzerland.
Feldhaus
S
S
Gudmundsen
L
L
Hegemann
D
D
Michel
D
D
Zäch
G A
GA
Knecht
H
H
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015601:Injury Severity Score; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009128:Muscle Spasticity / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D009460:Neurologic Examination / Q000379:methods; D026741:Physical Therapy Modalities / Q000379:methods*; D016059:Range of Motion, Articular; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D016896:Treatment Outcome