The effects of mechanical focal vibration on walking impairment in multiple sclerosis patients: A randomized, double-blinded vs placebo study

Emanuele Spina, Antonio Carotenuto, Maria Gabriella Aceto, Ilaria Cerillo, Francesco Silvestre, Francesco Arace, Paolo Paone, Giuseppe Orefice, Rosa Iodice

Restor Neurol Sci, Sep. 2016

1. The aim of this study was to assess whether FV is effective on walking impairment in a cohort of MS patients.

2. We performed a single-centre randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled study to investigate efficacy of FV vs sham vibration in 20 RR MS patients. Ten patients received treatment with the active device and ten patients sham treatment. Demographical, clinical and gait instrumental data analysis have been collected for each patient at baseline (T0), after treatment (T1) and after three weeks of wash out (T2). Our results suggest a beneficial effect of FV on walking impairment in MS patients suffering from spasticity and/or postural instability, which partially lasted until follow up.