Repetitive peripheral magnetic stimulation for hemiparetic hand edema in stroke patients: A randomized crossover trial

Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the effect of repetitive peripheral magnetic stimulation on edema of the hemiparetic hand in patients with stroke. Methods: This single-center, open-label, crossover, randomized controlled trial was registered with the Japan Registry of Clinical Trials, included 18 post-stroke patients in the convalescent rehabilitation ward. Patients were randomly assigned to two groups and received either conventional rehabilitation (control) or conventional rehabilitation plus repetitive peripheral magnetic stimulation (intervention) for 2 weeks, followed by 2 weeks of the other treatment. The repetitive peripheral magnetic stimulation intervention consisted of 6,000 pulses per day at a frequency of 30 Hz, 5 days per week. The primary outcome was changes in hand edema. The secondary outcomes were circumference of the hand, passive range of motion of flexion and extension of the metacarpophalangeal joint, hand pain and numbness, and grip strength. The outcomes were analyzed using mixed-effects models for repeated measures. Results: Sixteen patients who completed the whole phase were included in the analysis. The changes in hand edema showed significant differences between the groups (p < .01). Metacarpophalangeal joint flexion also had significant differences between the groups (p < .01). The left-right difference in hand volume increased from 48.8 ± 27.6 mL to 59.1 ± 26.3 mL after the control but significantly decreased from 56.3 ± 31.6 mL to 39.7 ± 30.2 mL after the intervention (p < .01). Conclusions: Repetitive peripheral magnetic stimulation is effective in reducing hemiparetic hand edema and increasing metacarpophalangeal joint flexion after stroke.