Effectiveness of Pelvic Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation Techniques on Balance and Gait Parameters in Chronic Stroke Patients: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Background Stroke is the second leading reason for death and the third most common reason for disability. Stroke is a source of possible substantial harm and is often more disabling than lethal. Common stroke defects include stiffness, tiredness, loss of balance on the afflicted side, as well as gait impairment, resulting in an inability to sustain postural alignment. Pelvic proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) is a physical rehabilitation that combines functionally dependent diagonal activity patterns with neuromuscular facilitator strategies to improve motor behaviour, endurance, and muscle activity and control. This protocol was created to describe the experimental study design for evaluating the combined impact of pelvic PNF and task-oriented exercises in chronic stroke patients to improve balance and gait parameters. Aim and objective The purpose of our study is to investigate the effectiveness of pelvic PNF as well as task-oriented exercises on balance, gait parameters, and in pelvic asymmetry. Methods The participants (n=30) were stroke survivors who fulfilled the inclusion criteria for research and were divided into two groups. The regimen lasted four weeks and took 30 minutes each day. Patients were evaluated at the beginning and end of their treatment. In both groups, pre- and post-intervention outcome measures were recorded and the data was analyzed. Result Following four weeks of rehabilitation, subjects showed remarkable improvement in balance, gait parameters, and pelvic inclination in both groups, i.e., pelvic PNF and task-oriented exercises in group A and task-oriented exercises in group B, but Group A showed a major improvement in outcome measures. A p-value of less than 0.05 was considered significant. Despite the fact that both treatment regimens were successful for the patient, pelvic PNF combined with task-oriented exercises exhibits a statistically significant difference from task-oriented exercises. Conclusion Pelvic PNF along with task-oriented exercises proved to be beneficial and can help in the restoration of balance and gait parameters as a result of normalisation in the geometry and symmetry of the pelvis in stroke patients. The pelvis, which is a connecting link between the trunk and lower limbs, plays a crucial role in balance and also in lower limb performance exclusively in gait.