Motor Testing Procedures in Hemiplegia: Based on Sequential Recovery Stages

Abstract

CLINICAL EXPERIENCE indicates that the restoration of motor function of adult patients with hemiplegia occurs in an almost standardized fashion. No matter how severely the patient is affected, he goes through a se quence of recovery stages, beginning with the well-known flaccid stage and proceeding through a number of stages characterized by spasticity. Then, if progress continues, spas ticity diminishes and may eventually disappear altogether, in which case a near normal motor control has been attained. A comparatively small number of patients reach such an ad vanced recovery stage.