NCT07204067

Mirror Therapy for Hand Function Recovery in Acute Stroke

Effectiveness of Mirror Therapy in Improving Motor Recovery and Hand Function in Patients With Acute Stroke A Randomized Controlled Trial

• Status: Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 44 (estimated)
• Sponsor: Riphah International University · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 40 Years – 55 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

Randomized controlled trial to determine whether mirror therapy (MT), added to conventional physiotherapy, improves upper-limb motor recovery, hand function, spasticity, and range of motion (ROM) in acute stroke compared with conventional physiotherapy alone. Outcomes include ARAT, Motor Assessment Scale, Modified Ashworth Scale, and goniometric ROM.

Detailed description

Stroke causes significant upper-limb impairment in the acute stage; early, targeted rehabilitation leverages heightened neuroplasticity. Mirror therapy uses a mid-sagittal mirror to reflect movements of the non-paretic limb, creating the illusion of normal movement in the paretic limb, recruiting mirror neuron circuits and facilitating motor relearning. Prior work suggests MT can improve fine and gross motor skills, reduce spasticity, and increase active ROM. This trial operationalizes a pragmatic MT protocol integrated with standard inpatient/outpatient physiotherapy in acute stroke.

Conditions

• Acute Stroke

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Mirror Therapy Conventional Physiotherapy	Experimental: Mirror Therapy + Conventional Physiotherapy Mirror therapy performed 20 min/session, 2 sessions/week for 1 week. A mirror is placed midsagittal, reflecting the non-paretic limb while hiding the paretic limb. Patients perform bilateral movements (wrist, finger, elbow flex/extension; reaching/grasping) while focusing on the mirror image. This is followed by 20 min of conventional physiotherapy, including strengthening, functional tasks, theraputty squeezes, finger extension with rubber band, towel wringing, lifting small objects, overhead reaching, and ball toss. Active Comparator: Conventional Physiotherapy Only Conventional physiotherapy 20 min/session, 2 sessions/week for 1 week. Exercises include upper limb strengthening, functional task practice, theraputty squeezes, finger extension with rubber band, towel wringing, lifting small objects, overhead reaching, and ball toss.

Timeline

• Start date: 2025-08-15
• Primary completion: 2027-08-17
• Completion: 2027-09-17
• First posted: 2025-10-02
• Last updated: 2025-10-02

Locations

1 site across 1 country: Pakistan