[en] Introduction: In Spain, stroke is one of the main causes of death, disability, dependence, and hospital stay. Rehabilitation plays here an important role as well as virtual reality could serve as a complementary treatment to improve the treatment of the upper limb in post-stroke patients. Objectives: To identify what type of virtual reality and what virtual reality devices are currently used in the recovery of the upper limb in patients after stroke. As specific objectives, to analyze in which state of stroke is most used the application of virtual reality, which are the variables of study, which are the measurement instruments and which are the treatment times most used with virtual reality therapy. Materials and methods: A systematic bibliographic search was carried out in 6 databases: Cochrane Plus, PEDro, Pubmed, Scopus, Web of Science (WoS) and SportDiscus. The inclusion criteria established were: articles that use virtual reality with a therapeutic objective in stroke and focused on the approach of the upper limb, articles that use virtual reality alone or combined with other therapeutic resources and comparing or not the results with another modality/technique or therapeutic method, carried out in humans, published in English and/or Spanish, with a sample size ≥ 15 subjects, published in the last 5 years and whose publication type was meta-analysis, systematic reviews, reviews, clinical trials and controlled and/or randomized clinical trials. Results: A total of 47 articles (10 reviews and 37 controlled and/or randomized clinical trials) were analyzed. Most of the studies used semi-immersive virtual reality, which was mainly used on a post-stroke chronic phase. The most used devices analyzed were: Nintendo Wii, Xbox Kinect, Sony Playstation EyeToy, Rehabilitation Gaming System and RehabMaster. The most analyzed variables were: muscle tone, range of motion, muscle strength, manual dexterity, motor function, independence, quality of life and health. The most used measurement instruments were: Ashworth modified Scale, Range of movement, Medical Research Council Scale, Box & Blocks Test, Fugl-Meyer Assessment, Modified Barthel Index, y Health Related Quality of Life questionnaire. Conclusions: It is necessary to conduct further studies with high methodology quality to determine which variables of study and which measurement instruments should be used to measure the effects of virtual reality in the recovery of the upper limb in patients after stroke. Moreover, an agreement should be reached about which treatment times are better to be used.

[gl] Introdución: En España, o accidente cerebrovascular é unha das principaiss causas de morte, invalidez, dependencia e estancia hospitalaria. A rehabilitación presenta aquí un papel importante e dentro dela, a realidade virtual podería ser unha alternativa para mellorar o tratamento do miembro superior nos doentes post-ictus. Obxetivos: Identificar qué tipo de realidade virtual e cales son os dispositivos de realidade virtual que se están a empregar actualmente na recuperación do membro superior en doentes post-ictus. Ademais, como obxectivos específicos, analizar en qué fase de recuperación post-ictus é másis empregada a realidade virtual, cales son as variáveis de estudio, os instrumentos de medida e os tempos de tratamento máis empregados no uso da realidade virtual. Material e métodos: Realizouse unha busca sistemática nas bases de datos: Cochrane Plus, PEDro, Pubmed, Scopus, Web of Science (WoS) y SportDiscus. Os criterios de inclusión establecidos foron: artigos que empreguen a realidade virtual cun obxectivo terapéutico no accidente cerebrovascular e centrado na abordaxe do membro superior, artigos que empreguen a realidade virtual con fines terapéuticos, sola ou combinada con outros recursos terapéuticos, e comparando ou non estes resultados con outra modalidade/técnica ou método terapéutico, realizados en seres humans, publicados en inglés e/ou español, cun tamaño da mostra ≥ 15 sujetos, publicados nos últimos 5 anos e cuxo tipo de publicación fose meta-análisis, revisións sistemáticas, revisións, ensaios clínicos, e ensaios clínicos controlados e/ou aleatorizados. Resultados: Analizáronse un total de 47 artigos (10 revisións e 37 ensaios controlados e/ou aleatorizados). A maioría dos estudos empregaron a realidade virtual semi-inmersiva en doentes post-ictus en fase crónica. Os dispositivos máis usados foron: Nintendo Wii, Xbox Kinect, Sony Playstation EyeToy, Rehabilitation Gaming System and RehabMaster. As variáveis máis analizadas, foron: tono muscular, amplitude de movemento, forza muscular, destreza manual, función motora, grao de independencia, e calidade de vida. Os instrumentos de medida máis empregados foron: Escala de Ashworth modificada, Range of movement, Medical Research Council Scale, Box & Blocks Test, Fugl-Meyer Assessment, Modified Barthel Index, y Health Related Quality of Life questionnaire da Conclusións: É necesario levar a cabo máis estudos experimentais de alta calidade metodolóxica, para determinar cales son as variáveis de estudo, e qué instrumentos deberían utilizarse para medir os efectos da realidade virtual na recuperación do membro superior despois de sufrir un accidente cerebrovascular. Do mesmo xeito, debe alcanzarse un consenso sobre os tempos de tratamento a empregar.