Does repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) have therapeutic effects on Dynamic Balance of Children with Cerebral Palsy?

Our big goal in this research was to evaluate the therapeutic effects of repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) on cerebral palsy (CP) children with balance deficits. Four spastic hemiplegic CP children were participated; the experimental group received rTMS training 4 days a week for 3 weeks and then for the next 3 weeks they received typical occupational therapy just after rTMS therapy. The control group received placebo rTMS instead of real one accordingly. Their dynamic balance was evaluated before the start of the treatment and 6 weeks after it. Center of pressure (COP) and center of mass (COM) features were regarded as dynamic balance parameters. Our results showed that the peak to peak of COP, COM, COM-COP, COM-COP inclination angles all improved for both experimental (15-86%) and control group patients, though there was less improvement about 8-46% in features of the control patients. Our results demonstrate that intensive sessions of the rTMS training could have the potential to enhance the therapeutic effects of typical occupational therapy that can produce dynamic balance improvements in CP children compared to using the occupational therapy by itself.