Clinical and Electromechanical Methods of Spasticity Assessment: A Review

Spasticity is a neurological disorder which results in disordered sensorimotor control owing to an upper motor neuron lesion. The muscles are continuously contracted which causes stiffness in the muscle which hinders the movement of muscle from their natural movement. It is mainly caused due to an injury to the central nervous system. Commonly used assessment methods of spasticity like the Ashworth and modified Ashworth scales do not quantify the degree of spasticity in the patients as they simply make available a semi quantitative degree of the force applied by the foot as resistance to passive movement with restricted inter-rater reliability. Electromechanical methods like isokinetic dynamometers can be used only when an objective quantitative weigh is available for the resistance to passive motion. Electrophysiological methods are valuable for the understanding of the pathophysiological procedures tangled in spasticity. But none of the methods are easy and reliable.