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Review
. 2024 Nov 26;13(23):7153.
doi: 10.3390/jcm13237153.

Robot-Assisted Therapy in Guillain-Barrè Syndrome: Systematic Review of Primary Evidence and Study Protocol for a Randomized Clinical Trial

Alex Martino Cinnera  1 , Martina D'Arienzo  1 , Diego Piatti  1 , Laura Casagrande Conti  1 , Pietro Deledda  2 , Alberto Tenore  2 , Stefano Paolucci  1 , Maria Grazia Grasso  1
Affiliations
Review

Robot-Assisted Therapy in Guillain-Barrè Syndrome: Systematic Review of Primary Evidence and Study Protocol for a Randomized Clinical Trial

Alex Martino Cinnera et al. J Clin Med. .

Abstract

Background: Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) is an immune-mediated polyradiculoneuropathy that represents a leading cause of motor impairment. Robot-assisted therapy (RAT) has been widely applied in various neurological conditions. However, the use of RAT in GBS remains underexplored. This systematic review (SR) aims to evaluate the preliminary evidence regarding the efficacy of RAT in terms of motor recovery in people with GBS (pwGBSs). Secondly, the study protocol for a randomized RCT is reported. Methods: A comprehensive SR was conducted on PubMed, Scopus, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, and Epistemikos. Risk of bias was assessed using the National Institute of Health (NIH) study quality assessment. The SR's protocol was recorded in the PROSPERO database. Results: Out of 116 articles found, four studies published in the past four years met the inclusion criteria. These studies investigated the effects of RAT on lower limbs (three studies) and upper limbs (one study) in four pwGBSs. The results showed improvements in motor function and patient engagement, but it is impossible to generalize the findings. Conclusions: Our SRs supports the rationale for an RCT to assess the efficacy of RAT in pwGBSs. We present the protocol for a double-blind RCT to evaluate the effects of RAT on upper limb motor function in pwGBSs.

Keywords: chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy; exoskeleton device; polyradiculoneuropathy; polyradiculopathy; robotic rehabilitation.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Risk of bias in the included studies [17,18,19,20] evaluated with the NIH “Quality Assessment Tool for Before–After (Pre–Post) Studies with No Control Group”.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Roadmap of RAUL Project. Ph. credit: IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation Hospital.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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