Functional electrical stimulation: a review of the literature published on common peroneal nerve stimulation for the correction of dropped foot

Abstract

A person who has a dropped foot is unable to lift the toes clear of the ground during the swing phase of walking. Such a problem is seen in people who have either a peripheral nerve lesion, as a result of trauma or disease, or an upper motor neuron les ion. It is the latter that responds to neuromuscular stimulation; lesions of the lower motor neurons result in destruction of the neural pathway so that muscle contraction can be achieved only through direct stimulation of the muscle fibres.