Stroke is a medical emergency where blood supply to the brain is cut off (ischemic) or a blood vessel ruptures (hemorrhagic), leading to potential long-term damage, disability, or death. Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is used in neurological conditions as a non-invasive form of brain stimulation and can promote motor function recovery after a stroke. There is literature demonstrating improvement with high and low-frequency rTMS in stroke patients; however, the literature on these frequencies is limited. Our humble attempt was to assess the efficacy and persistence of effect of high-frequency and low-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) in stroke patients and to compare their efficacy. We included 23 patients, of whom 3 were lost to follow-up. After selecting the patients, they were randomly allocated into two groups: Group A received high-frequency rTMS, and Group B received low-frequency rTMS for 10 days, along with a structured rehabilitation protocol. The patients were assessed before initiating therapy, after completing therapy, and at 2 weeks and 4 weeks post-intervention using the Functional Independence Measure & Functional Assessment Measure (FIM FAM) & Fugl-Meyer Assessment (FMA). It was observed that there was a significant improvement in both the pre- and post-intervention periods, as evidenced by p-values less than 0.05 in both groups. It was also observed that the changes persisted for up to 8 weeks post-therapy in both groups. No significant difference was observed between the groups. We observed no adverse effects during the therapy. To conclude, both high and low-frequency rTMS therapy may be an effective treatment modality for stroke patients, though larger studies are recommended.

Development of new rehabilitative technologies, Neurorehabilitation, rTMS, Stroke