Hallux Mobilization in Patients With Parkinson's Disease

Parkinson's disease is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system. The motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease result from the death of dopamine-generating cells in the substantia nigra, a region of the midbrain; the cause of this cell death is unknown. Early in the course of the disease, the most obvious symptoms are movement-related; these include shaking, rigidity, slowness of movement and difficulty with walking and gait. The main families of drugs useful for treating motor symptoms are levodopa dopamine agonists and Monoamine oxidases-B inhibitors.A multidisciplinary intensive rehabilitation treatment (MIRT) is able to improve different parameters in PD that are poorly responsive to the pharmacological therapy. In this study, we aim to understand whether the passive mobilization of the metatarsophalangeal joint of the hallux determines an increase in the joint range in this district, allowing to improve, at least, the gait in patients with PD. In this course, we will evaluate whether passive mobilization of this joint, lead to positive effects on the freezing of gait and on the festination.

Inclusion criteria

PD patients stage 3 H&Y with FOG

Exclusion criteria

we excluded patients with atypical parkinsonism, with other concomitant neurological conditions (with cerebrovascular etc.), with joint disorders, muscle disorders or with other orthopedic conditions.