Balneo Research Journal DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.12680/balneo.2015.1088 Vol.6, No.2, Mai 2015 ROLE OF MEDICAL REHABILITATION TREATMENT IN POST-POLIO SYNDROME – A CASE REPORT Dogaru Gabriela¹ , ² Stanescu Ioana¹ , ² Pop Ioana² 1. "Iuliu Hatieganu" University of Medicine and Pharmacy Cluj-Napoca 2. Clinical Rehabilitation Hospital Cluj-Napoca Abstract The term post-polio syndrome (PPS) was introduced in 1985 by Halstead. It is characterized by sudden or progressive muscle weakness, new muscular atrophy, muscle pain, fatigue, functional impotence, cold intolerance, after a period of at least 15 years from acute polio virus infection, a period of neurological and functional stability, in the absence of other medical explanation [1]. The reported prevalence of PPS is between 15% and 80% of all patients with previous polio virus infections [2, 3]. Poliomyelitis continues to be a public health problem, because the consequences of the disease last throughout life. In Europe, there are about 700,000 persons who survived the infection and are still alive. Non- randomized studies with kinesitherapy programs with a duration between 6 weeks and 7 months, involving isokinetic and isometric endurance muscle training, have demonstrated an increase of muscle strength in the case of patients with mild or moderate muscle weakness, and a reduction of muscle fatigue [7, 8, 9]. The differential diagnosis of PPS can be difficult because of the need to exclude both neurological and non-neurological conditions that aggravate the pre-existing motor deficit. Rehabilitation programs using therapeutic means: kinesitherapy, thermotherapy, hydrothermotherapy, occupational therapy represent the only way to limit functional deficit and to improve pain, playing an important role in the long-term management and care of patients. Key words: rehabilitation program, post-polio syndrome, kinesitherapy Introduction The term post-polio syndrome (PPS) was introduced in 1985 by Halstead. It is characterized by sudden or progressive muscle weakness, new muscular atrophy, muscle pain, fatigue, functional impotence, cold intolerance, after a period of at least 15 years from acute polio virus infection, a period of neurological and functional stability, in the absence of other medical explanation [1]. The reported prevalence of PPS is between 15% and 80% of all patients with previous polio virus infections [2, 3]. The few studies available regarding drug treatment have reported no efficiency of the studied drug agents: steroids, pyridostigmine, amantadine in the management of fatigue and muscle strength [4, 5, 6]. Non-randomized studies with kinesitherapy programs with a duration between 6 weeks and 7 months, involving isokinetic and isometric endurance muscle training, have demonstrated an increase of muscle strength in the case of patients with mild or moderate muscle weakness, and a reduction of muscle fatigue [7, 8, 9]. A randomized study reported a significant reduction of pain, depression and fatigue, as well as an improvement of walking following hydrothermotherapy [10]. Poliomyelitis continues to be a public health problem, because the consequences of the disease last 65