To investigate whether the noninvasive determination of transcutaneous
oxygen tension (
TcO2) can be used to evaluate the degree of
hemiplegia, we measured
TcO2 before and after a 2-mo rehabilitation course in 12 patients with
hemiplegia caused by
cerebrovascular diseases. All patients with no evidence of
heart failure (ejection fraction evaluated by echocardiogram: 68.7 +/- 6.4%) began to receive conventional
physical therapy a few days after the onset of
stroke. The measurement of
TcO2 was performed at 9:00 a.m. with an
electrode placed on the skin surface of the flexion side of the forearm 5 cm distal to the elbow. Before rehabilitation, the difference in
TcO2 between the paralyzed and healthy upper limbs ((delta)
TcO2) in patients at Brunnstrom's stage V was significantly lower than that in patients at stages II, III, and IV (P < 0.05, P <0.01, and P < 0.01, respectively). After rehabilitation, (delta)
TcO2 in patients at Brunnstrom's stage V was significantly lower than that in patients at stage III(P < 0.05). The (delta)
TcO2 in the patients with severe
hemiplegia was larger than that in patients with slight
hemiplegia. In addition,
TcO2 at the paralyzed upper limb increased significantly after rehabilitation (before 62.7 +/- 10.5 mm Hg; after 71.9 +/- 9.0 mm Hg; P < 0.05), although arterial blood
oxygen tension (PaO2) did not. Therefore, the
TcO2 determination may be useful in assessing the degree of
hemiplegia in upper limbs.