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Electromyographical Assessment of Passive, Active Assistive, and Active Shoulder Rehabilitation Exercises
Author(s) -
Uhl Timothy L.,
Muir Tiffany A.,
Lawson Laura
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
pmandr
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.617
H-Index - 66
eISSN - 1934-1563
pISSN - 1934-1482
DOI - 10.1016/j.pmrj.2010.01.002
Subject(s) - medicine , electromyography , rehabilitation , physical medicine and rehabilitation , passive stretching , physical therapy , deltoid curve , functional movement , asymptomatic , range of motion , anatomy , surgery
Objective To determine the electromyographical (EMG) activation levels of shoulder musculature during early rehabilitation exercises to regain active range of motion. Design Descriptive. Setting University clinical research laboratory. Participants Ten asymptomatic volunteers (age, 25 ± 5 years; height, 171 ± 7 cm; weight, 78 ± 15 kg). Intervention Fine‐wire (supraspinatus and infraspinatus) and surface (anterior deltoid, upper trapezius, lower trapezius, and serratus anterior) electrodes recorded EMG activity from each muscle during 12 therapeutic exercises completed during a single testing session in random order. Main Outcome Measure EMG root mean squared amplitude normalized to a percentage of maximum voluntary contraction (% MVC). Results Passive exercises generated the lowest mean EMG activity (<10%) for all muscles studied. The standing active shoulder elevation exercises generated the greatest mean EMG activity with an upper boundary of 95% CI (40% MVC). Overall the active‐assistive exercises generated a small (<10%) increase in muscle activity compared with the passive exercises for the supraspinatus and infraspinatus muscles, which was not a significant increase ( P > .05). Conclusion This electrophysiological data in normal volunteers suggest that many exercises used during the early phase of rehabilitation to regain active elevation do not exceed 20% MVC. Progression from passive to active‐assisted can potentially be performed without significantly increasing muscular activation levels exercises. Upright active exercises demonstrated a consistent and often a statistically significant increase in muscular activities supporting that these exercises should be prescribed later in a rehabilitation program.