Abstract

• Purpose
  The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of a 3-week somatosensory stimulation program on the integrity of the somatosensory pathway of patients with brain damage.
• Method
  The sample consisted of two groups of patients with brain damage matched by Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) scores and age:8 patients with a mean age of 56.75 years who were treated with somatosensory stimulation, and 8 patients with a mean age of 58.88 years, who were not treated with sensory intervention program. A repeated measures matched-control group design was used to assess functional recovery of the brain. The instrument used in this study was SSEP (somatosensory evoked potentials), a neurophysiological parameter, for the integrity of the somatosensory pathway.
• Results
  The hypothesis that patients with brain damage who were treated with the somatosensory stimulation program will show higher SSEP wave form scores than the non-treatment group was supported (3rd week.: U=13.000, p=.014). Additional repeated measures analysis showed that there were no significant differences in recovery trends between the groups (F=1.945, p=.159).
• Conclusion
  This study demonstrates that a somatosensory stimulation program is effective in promoting recovery of the integrity of the somatosensory pathway of patients with brain damage.
• Keywords: Somatosensory evoked potentials; Brain damage

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