Fatigue and muscle activation during submaximal elbow flexion in children with cerebral palsy

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether children with cerebral palsy (CP), like typically developing peers, would compensate for muscle fatigue by recruiting additional motor units during a sustained low force contraction until task failure. Twelve children with CP and 17 typically developing peers performed one submaximal isometric elbow flexion contraction until the task could no longer be sustained at on average 25% (range 10-35%) of their maximal voluntary torque. Meanwhile surface electromyography (EMG) was measured from the biceps brachii and triceps brachii, and acceleration variations of the forearm were detected by an accelerometer. Slopes of the change in EMG amplitude and median frequency and accelerometer variation during time normalised to their initial values were calculated. Strength and time to task failure were similar in both groups. Children with CP exhibited a lower increase in EMG amplitude of the biceps brachii and triceps brachii during the course of the sustained elbow flexion task, while there were no significant group differences in median frequency decrease or acceleration variation increase. This indicates that children with CP do not compensate muscle fatigue with recruitment of additional motor units during sustained low force contractions.