Background: Post burn contracture represent a major dilemma facing burn management team especially physical therapist. Several treatment modalities such as stretching, muscle energy technique, and thermotherapy have been utilized to increase the flexibility and regain lost range of motion and function. There is lack of evidence to allow conclusions to be drawn about either muscle energy technique or static stretching technique in increasing the flexibility of hamstring muscle post-burn contracture.
Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the best stretching exercises to increase flexibility in post burn contracture of the hamstring muscle, as measured by knee extension range of motion.
Materials and Methods: Thirty male patients ranging in age from 18 to 32 years and who had decreased hamstring muscle flexibility as a result of partial thickness burn were classified into 3 equal groups 10 of each, Group (1): received Muscle Energy Technique(MET) , Group (2): received 1 minutes of static stretching exercise. And Group (3): received nothing. Measurements of knee extension range of motion were conducted before treatment, post 5 days of treatment, and after 8 days of treatment.
Statistical analysis: One way Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used. The level of significant was set at 0.05 for all statistical tests.
Results: Both treatment groups (MET and static stretching) had highly significant (P< 0.001) gains in knee extension ROM after 5 and 8 days post stretching exercises. But MET had highly significant (P< 0.001) gains in knee extension ROM than static stretching after 8 days of treatments.
Conclusion: The results of this study suggest that MET is more effective than static stretching alone to improve a hamstring muscle flexibility post burn contracture.
Key words: Burn, Contracture, Range of motion, MET, Static stretching, Flexibility.
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