Fateme Khorramroo - Department of Sport Injuries and Biomechanics, Faculty of Sport Sciences and Health, University of Tehran, Iran.
Seyed Hamed Mousavi - Department of Sport Injuries and Biomechanics, Faculty of Sport Sciences and Health, University of Tehran, Iran.
Hooman Minoonejad - Department of Sport Injuries and Biomechanics, Faculty of Sport Sciences and Health, University of Tehran, Iran.
Masoud Sorkhabi - Department of Orthopaedics, Helsingborg Hospital, Helsingborg, Skane, Sweden.

This research paper aims to investigate the effect of Instrument Assisted Soft Tissue Mobilization (IASTM) and Faradic Electrotherapy (FES) on lower limb coupling during gait in a patient with excessive ankle stiffness. The study was conducted on a single patient who had been diagnosed with ankle stiffness, decreased muscle strength due to ۳.۵ years immobilization of ankle joint and was experiencing difficulty in walking. The patient underwent a ۱۲-week intervention program that included IASTM and FES. The lower limb kinematics were measured using a motion analysis system before and after the intervention and joint couplings were calculated for ۳-dimensional ankle movement. The results of the study changed ankle-knee, ankle-hip sagittal and transverse, and knee-hip frontal and transverse plane inter-joint coupling during different subphases of gait after intervention. The observed coupling pattern in the subjects under investigation approached a level of similarity to that of healthy individuals in loading response and midstance for ankle-knee sagittal plane. The findings of this study suggest that IASTM and FES can be used as effective interventions to lower limb coupling during gait in patients with post-operation complications. Further research on more patients is required.

Coordination, vector coding electrical stimulation, graston, gait