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Neurological dysfunction commonly occurs in the upper limb contralateral to the hemisphere of the brain in which stroke occurs; however, the effect on the ipsilesional upper limb (iUL) is Dorsomorphin side effects poorly understood [1, 2]. Contralateral deficits increase reliance on the iUL for function and for maintaining independence [3, 4]. Recognising the impact of stroke on the iUL is an important step towards implementing effective rehabilitation and to improve our understanding of the challenges faced following stroke [5, 6].Health professionals commonly use the iUL as a measure of reference for recover, and frequently refer to it as ��nonaffected�� or ��unaffected�� [2, 7]. For health professionals to simply presume that the iUL is not affected by stroke, as our current terminology infers, may fail to adequately recognise the contribution of a functionally important component of upper limb recovery.

In this study, the term iUL refers to the arm and hand on the same side of the body as the lesioned hemisphere. This study will systematically review the research investigating the iUL following stroke to determine if the iUL is affected or not affected by stroke. This study hypothesises that following stroke the iUL can be adversely affected.2. Method2.1. Search StrategyA systematic search of the literature was carried out in October 2012 using the following databases: Medline, Embase, and PubMed. Search strategies were developed in accordance with the requirement of each database to locate studies for inclusion. The following search terms were used: stroke, upper limb, upper extremity, arm, less affected, nonaffected, and ipsilateral.

An example search strategy has been included (Table 2). A further manual search was conducted from the reference lists of the ��captured�� studies to identify other relevant studies for inclusion.Table 2Example search methodology: Embase from 1974 till present.2.2. Inclusion/Exclusion CriteriaThis review only included articles reporting original research that recruited adult stroke survivors. It excluded studies not initially published in English, conference publications, and those that used animal modelling. It also excluded studies which only recruited patients with a left or a right hemispheric stroke, studies which aimed to analyse the role of each hemisphere and/or the function of the iUL, and studies which explored neuroanatomical causes for iUL deficit (Figure 1).

Figure 1Selection of studies.2.3. Selection of StudiesFrom the initial search, titles and abstracts were reviewed Batimastat for relevance. Studies which appeared to meet the inclusion criteria were then analysed using the full text. Once the inclusion criteria were confirmed, relevant data was then extracted by the review panel in accordance with a customised data collection form. Where discrepancies arose, the review panel reached agreement through discussion.3. ResultsThis systematic review found that the iUL can be affected following stroke.