The effect of thoracolumbar fascia release on pulmonary functions in stroke patients

Purpose: This study was planned to examine the immediate effects of thoracolumbar fascia (TLF) release on pulmonary functions in chronic stroke patients. Materials and Methods: 30 male stroke patients between the ages of 18-65 were included in the study. The patients were divided into three groups by simple randomization method: control group (KG, 57.7 ± 4.92 years), breathing exercises (SG, 57.6 ± 4.32 years) and TLF release (TLF, 56.5 ± 9.8 years) groups. Traditional stroke rehabilitation protocols were applied to the control group, and 15 minutes of breathing exercises or 15 minutes of TLF release techniques were applied to the other groups in addition to traditional stroke rehabilitation protocols. Respiratory functions of the patients were evaluated by spirometry before and after treatment. Two-way repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA), Tukey HSD test and dependent groups t test were used to analyze the results. Results: There was a statistically significant difference in the values between pre-treatment and post-treatment in all parameters except the FEV1/FVC (%) value in the treatment groups (TLF and SG) (p<0.01). As a result of the post-hoc analysis for FVC (L) and FEV1 (L), it was seen that TLF and SG from the treatment applications had a significant difference compared to the control group (p = 0.001). Conclusion: It can be stated that TLF release practices have an acute positive effect on the respiratory functions of chronic stroke patients. Breathing exercises or TLF release techniques can be applied to reduce the risk of pulmonary complications and improve exercise capacity in post-stroke patients. More evidence-based scientific research is needed to examine the effects of TLF release practices on the respiratory kinetics of stroke patients.