SynthesisSpinal cord2021
Physiotherapy interventions for the treatment of spasticity in people with spinal cord injury: a systematic review.
Synthesis in Spinal cord, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 25 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- Article
- Advancing Neurological Rehabilitation: The BRAIN Framework for Clinical Reasoning in Neurophysiotherapy.Brain sciences · 2026Article
- Patient-reported effects of transcutaneous spinal cord stimulation on spasticity in patients with spinal cord injury.The journal of spinal cord medicine · 2026Article
- Passive movement interventions and spasticity outcomes in individuals with spinal cord injury during rehabilitation: a scoping review.Spinal cord · 2025Article
- Multimodal Rehabilitation in Spinal Cord Lesion: Comparative Outcomes of Vojta Therapy and Lokomat Training.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2025Article
- Botulinum toxin in preventing complications of muscle flap reconstruction in spinal cord injury/disease.Spinal cord series and cases · 2025Article
- Early functional proprioceptive stimulation in high spinal cord injury: a pilot study.Frontiers in rehabilitation sciences · 2025Article
- Outcomes of Pressure Sore Surgery in Patients with Spinal Cord Injury and Spasticity.Plastic and reconstructive surgery. Global open · 2024Article
- Evidence of treating spasticity before it develops: a systematic review of spasticity outcomes in acute spinal cord injury interventional trials.Therapeutic advances in neurological disorders · 2022Review
- The Effect and Dose-Response of Functional Electrical Stimulation Cycling Training on Spasticity in Individuals With Spinal Cord Injury: A Systematic Review With Meta-Analysis.Frontiers in physiology · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
STUDY
designSystematic review.
objectiveTo determine the effectiveness of physiotherapy interventions for the treatment of spasticity in people with spinal cord injuries.
settingNot applicable.
methodsA comprehensive search was undertaken to identify all randomised controlled trials of physiotherapy interventions that included an assessor-reported (objective) or participant-reported (subjective) measure of spasticity. Only trials that provided a physiotherapy intervention on more than one occasion were included. The susceptibility to bias of each trial was rated on the PEDro scale. Data were extracted to derive mean between-group differences (95% CI) for each trial.
resultsTwenty-eight trials were identified but only 17 provided useable data. Seven trials compared a physiotherapy intervention to no intervention (or a sham intervention) and 10 trials compared one physiotherapy intervention to another physiotherapy intervention. The median (IQR) PEDro score of the 17 trials was 6/10 (6-8). The most commonly used assessor- and participant-reported measures of spasticity were the Ashworth scale and Spinal Cord Injury Spasticity Evaluation Tool, respectively. Only one trial demonstrated a treatment effect. This trial compared continuous passive motion of the ankle to no treatment on the Ashworth scale. The remaining 16 trials were either inconclusive or indicated that the treatment was ineffective for reducing spasticity.
conclusionsThere is no high-quality evidence to indicate that physiotherapy interventions decrease spasticity but this may reflect a lack of research on the topic. Future trials should focus on participant-reported measures of spasticity that distinguish between the immediate, short-term and long-term effects of any physiotherapy intervention.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.