Repetitive facilitative exercise: Recent evidence and development for combination therapy

Abstract

Repetitive facilitative exercise (RFE), a combination of high-dose (high frequency) of repetitions and neurofacilitation, is a recently developed approach to the rehabilitation of stroke-related limb impairment. We conducted a randomized controlled evaluation of RFE compared with a duration-matched conventional rehabilitation program in the treatment of subacute stroke-related upper extremity impairment (Shimodozono et al. 2013). RFE demonstrated both statistically and clinically significant benefits over conventional rehabilitation both on the Action Research Arm Test, which is designed to measure dexterity and function, and on the Fugl-Meyer Arm scores, which was chosen as measure of motor control. In the case-series study, the beneficial effect of RFE is also reported in the treatment of chronic phase of stroke. More research is needed, but RFE could conceivably be integrated with other approaches such as vibration, neuromuscular electrical stimulation, repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation, botulinum toxin, and robotics to achieve further improvement in its capabilities.