Under-water exercises versus land-based exercises in treatment of erb's palsy / Ahmed Abdelmonem Ibrahim ; Supervised Gehan Hassan Elmeniawy , Hassan Magdy Elbarbary , Nahed Shukri Thabet

Thesis (M.Sc.) - Cairo University - Faculty of Physical Therapy - Department of Growth and Development Disorders in Pediatric

This study was designed to compare between underwater and land based exercises effect on isometric strength of shoulder flexors and shoulder flexion range of motion in children with unilateral Erb's palsy. Thirty children with unilateral Erb's palsy from both sexes (16 boys and 14 girls) participated in this study. They were classified as grade 3 according to mallet score system. Their ages ranged from 26 to 39 months, they were randomly assigned into two equal groups: study group (A): who received under water exercise program and study group (B) who received land-based exercise program. Isometric strength of shoulder flexors and shoulder flexion range of motion were measured by hand held dynamometer and AutoCAD program respectively. Treatment program extended for three months, 3 sessions per week where evaluation for each child in both groups was done before and after it. Pretreatment results of this study revealed non-significant difference between the two groups; while the results revealed a statistically significant improvement in the measuring variables in both group (A) and group (B) when comparing their pre and post treatment mean values. Significant difference was also observed when comparing post treatment results of the two groups in favor of study group (A). Conclusion: The obtained results suggested that underwater exercises therapy is beneficial to improve isometric strength of shoulder flexors and shoulder flexion range of motion in children with unilateral Erb's palsy

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