Evaluation of the effects of functional electrical stimulation on muscle power and spasticity in spinal cord injury patients

Abstract

Nineteen paraplegic patients were entered into a trial to evaluate the use of functional electrical stimulation (FES) as a practical and reliable method of aiding standing. The clinical study used commercially available muscle stimulators, in contrast to the many previously reported case studies where prototype equipment has been used. This paper examines the effect of FES on muscle strength and spasticity in the paretic quadriceps muscle of paraplegic patients and demonstrates that only five of the subjects in the study exhibited an increase in muscle power of the stimulated quadriceps muscle, and that change in the level of spasticity, with varying patterns, occurred in all but two patients.