Remote Ischemic Conditioning, Bimanual Skill Learning, and Corticospinal Excitability
Unilateral Cerebral Palsy, Hemiplegic Cerebral Palsy, Remote Ischemic Conditioning
About this trial
This is an interventional treatment trial for Unilateral Cerebral Palsy focused on measuring Cerebral palsy, Bimanual coordination, Corticospinal excitability
Eligibility Criteria
Inclusion Criteria:
Children diagnosed with unilateral cerebral palsy, ages 6-16 years
- Manual Ability Classification System (MACS) levels I-III
- Ability to complete a stack of 3 cups in 2 minutes
- Mainstream in school and has sufficient cognition to follow the experiment instructions
Exclusion Criteria:
Children with other developmental disabilities such as autism, developmental coordination disorders, etc.
- Children with absent active motor threshold
- Children with cognitive deficits or communication problem
- Children with known cardiorespiratory and vascular dysfunctions
- Children with metabolic disorders, neoplasm, hydrocephalus
- Children who are receiving other adjunct therapies such as rTMS and tDCS
- Children with seizures and on anti-seizure medications
- Children with metal implants and incompatible medical devices for MRI scans
Sites / Locations
- Dept. of Physical Therapy, East Carolina UniversityRecruiting
Arms of the Study
Arm 1
Arm 2
Experimental
Sham Comparator
Remote Ischemic Conditioning (RIC)
Sham Conditioning
RIC is achieved via blood pressure cuff inflation to at least 20 mmHg above systolic blood pressure to 250 mmHg on the more involved arm. RIC involves 5 cycles of 5 minutes blood pressure cuff inflation followed by alternating 5 minutes of cuff deflation and requires 45 minutes. RIC is performed on visits 2-6. Intervention Hand Arm Bimanual Intensive Therapy (HABIT) Bimanual cup stacking training Balance training
Sham conditioning is achieved via blood pressure cuff inflation to 25 mmHg on the more involved arm. RIC involves 5 cycles of 5 minutes blood pressure cuff inflation followed by alternating 5 minutes of cuff deflation and requires 45 minutes. RIC is performed on visits 2-6. Intervention Hand Arm Bimanual Intensive Therapy (HABIT) Bimanual cup stacking training Balance training