TY - JOUR
T1 - Acute effects of locomotor training on neuromuscular and metabolic profile after incomplete spinal cord injury
AU - Gorgey, Ashraf S.
AU - Poarch, Hunter
AU - Harnish, Christopher
AU - Miller, Joshua M.
AU - Dolbow, David
AU - Gater, David R.
PY - 2011
Y1 - 2011
N2 - Objectives: Locomotor training (LT) enhances walking in individuals with spinal cord injuries (SCIs). We tested the acute effects of 4 days of LT using BWSTT combined with Robotic Locomotor therapy compared to BWSTT twice weekly. Design: Two non-ambulatory participants with an American Spinal Injury Association Impairment Scale (AIS) D. Both received LT for 2 weeks as a portion of their clinical inpatient rehabilitation program and both used wheelchairs as their primary method of mobility. Over a 2 week period, one participant received a total of 8 visits consisting of manual BWSTT (twice weekly) combined with Robotic locomotor therapy (twice weekly). The other participant preformed manual BWSTT (twice weekly) for a total of 4 visits. Resting energy expenditure, body composition, muscle strength, submaximal oxygen consumption (VO-{2}) and blood lactate during LT were measured pre and post-training. Results: The average maximum voluntary contraction of both knee extensor muscle groups increased by 28-34% with associated reduction in spasticity to the BWSTT participant. Two week interventions resulted in a downward shift of the lactate concentrations for both participants, increase in resting energy expenditure and shift in substrate utilization. Discussion and conclusion: A clinical paradigm of incorporating BWSTT with robotic locomotor therapy for 4 days/ week did not provide additional physiological benefits to skeletal muscle strength, spasticity or metabolic profile compared to twice weekly of LT using BWSTT.
AB - Objectives: Locomotor training (LT) enhances walking in individuals with spinal cord injuries (SCIs). We tested the acute effects of 4 days of LT using BWSTT combined with Robotic Locomotor therapy compared to BWSTT twice weekly. Design: Two non-ambulatory participants with an American Spinal Injury Association Impairment Scale (AIS) D. Both received LT for 2 weeks as a portion of their clinical inpatient rehabilitation program and both used wheelchairs as their primary method of mobility. Over a 2 week period, one participant received a total of 8 visits consisting of manual BWSTT (twice weekly) combined with Robotic locomotor therapy (twice weekly). The other participant preformed manual BWSTT (twice weekly) for a total of 4 visits. Resting energy expenditure, body composition, muscle strength, submaximal oxygen consumption (VO-{2}) and blood lactate during LT were measured pre and post-training. Results: The average maximum voluntary contraction of both knee extensor muscle groups increased by 28-34% with associated reduction in spasticity to the BWSTT participant. Two week interventions resulted in a downward shift of the lactate concentrations for both participants, increase in resting energy expenditure and shift in substrate utilization. Discussion and conclusion: A clinical paradigm of incorporating BWSTT with robotic locomotor therapy for 4 days/ week did not provide additional physiological benefits to skeletal muscle strength, spasticity or metabolic profile compared to twice weekly of LT using BWSTT.
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U2 - 10.3233/NRE-2011-0680
DO - 10.3233/NRE-2011-0680
M3 - Article
C2 - 21876299
AN - SCOPUS:80052658943
SN - 1053-8135
VL - 29
SP - 79
EP - 83
JO - NeuroRehabilitation
JF - NeuroRehabilitation
IS - 1
ER -