title: Muscle torque of healthy individuals and individuals with spastic hemiparesis after passive static streching.
abstract: Spasticity is one of the main causes of contracture, muscle weakness and subsequent functional incapacity. The passive static stretching can be included as having the purpose of increasing musculoskeletal flexibility, however, it also can influence the muscle torque. The objective is to verify the immediate effect of passive static stretching in the muscle strength of healthy and those who present spastic hemiparesis. There were assessed 20 subjects, 10 spastic hemiparetic (EG) and 10 healthy individuals (CG), including both sexes, aged between 22 and 78 years. The torque of extensor muscles of the knee was analyzed using isokinetic dynamometer. Results have shown that EG has less muscle torque compared to CG ( p < 0.01). In addition, EG presented a decrease in significance of muscle torque after stretching ( p < 0.05), however, it has not shown significant alteration in muscle torque of CG after performing the program that was prescribed. Immediately after the passive stretch, a significant torque decrease can be seen in hypertonic muscle; it is believed that this reduction may be associated with the physiological overlap between actin and myosin filaments and so preventing the muscle to develop a maximum contraction.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Sensory Motor Rehabilitation Engineering - Universidade do Vale do Paraíba - São José dos Campos, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Sérgio Takeshi
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Tatsukawa DE Freitas
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Sensory Motor Rehabilitation Engineering - Universidade do Vale do Paraíba - São José dos Campos, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Elizângela Márcia
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: DE Carvalho Abreu
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Sensory Motor Rehabilitation Engineering - Universidade do Vale do Paraíba - São José dos Campos, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Mariane Cecilia
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Dos Reis
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Sensory Motor Rehabilitation Engineering - Universidade do Vale do Paraíba - São José dos Campos, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Bruna
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: DE Souza Cunha
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Sensory Motor Rehabilitation Engineering - Universidade do Vale do Paraíba - São José dos Campos, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Tamires
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Souza Moreira Prianti
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Sensory Motor Rehabilitation Engineering - Universidade do Vale do Paraíba - São José dos Campos, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Fernanda
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pupio Silva Lima
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Sensory Motor Rehabilitation Engineering - Universidade do Vale do Paraíba - São José dos Campos, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Mário
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Oliveira Lima
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009119:Muscle Contraction / Q000502:physiology*; D009122:Muscle Hypertonia / Q000503:physiopathology; D009128:Muscle Spasticity / Q000503:physiopathology*; D053580:Muscle Strength; D053581:Muscle Strength Dynamometer; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000503:physiopathology*; D010291:Paresis / Q000503:physiopathology*; D019415:Torque; D055815:Young Adult