# Rehabilitation of a Chronic Guillain-Barré Syndrome Patient With Vibratory Motor Stimulation of Dorsiflexors: A Case Report

## TL;DR

A chronic Guillain-Barré syndrome patient showed improved muscle strength in the dorsiflexors after using vibratory motor stimulation as part of rehabilitation.

## Contribution

This is the first reported case of using vibratory motor stimulation to improve dorsiflexor strength in a chronic Guillain-Barré syndrome patient.

## Key findings

- Vibratory motor stimulation improved dorsiflexor muscle power from grade-0 to grade-I and grade-I+.
- The intervention was part of a broader rehabilitation plan including strengthening and balance exercises.
- Positive outcomes were observed in functional independence and balance measures after two months of treatment.

## Abstract

There are various reports describing physiotherapy rehabilitation in Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) but the use of current to rehabilitate GBS patients has remained an untouched topic. To elaborate on this work, we describe a case report focusing on the intervention plan for the rehabilitation of a chronic GBS case by the use of vibratory motor stimulation (VMS) current. The study aimed to describe the therapeutic application of VMS current in improving muscle power of dorsiflexors and overall outcome measures in a case of GBS presenting in a tertiary care hospital in North India.

A 29-year-old male patient came to Teerthanker Mahaveer University Hospital and consulted in the Department of Physiotherapy after 1.4 years of being diagnosed with acute motor axonal neuropathy-type GBS. Rehabilitation of this case included strengthening exercises of the upper and lower limbs along with balance exercises. Specifically, in this case, we gave VMS current after assessing the muscle power of the dorsiflexors, which was found to be grade-0 over the bilateral dorsiflexors, combined with passive dorsiflexion. Different outcome measures were used for assessment, including manual muscle testing, functional independence measurement, and the Berg Balance Scale. Improvement in the patient’s condition was observed in his outcome measures after two months of treatment.

There was an overall improvement in the muscle power of our patient’s dorsiflexors, where muscle power was upgraded from grade-0 to grade-I and grade-I+ in the bilateral lower limbs by the use of VMS current. This study marks a novel application of VMS to the dorsiflexors of a GBS patient, yielding positive outcomes in upgrading muscle power grades from grade-0 to grade-I and grade-I+. Further research is needed to confirm VMS efficacy as an early intervention in GBS patient rehabilitation.