Another hypothesis is that the excitation of the cutaneous afferents decreases the excitability of the propriospinal interneurons and motoneurons (Elbasiouny et al 2010), while others argue that ES applied to antagonistic muscles augments reciprocal inhibition of
agonistic spastic muscles (van der Salm et al 2006). However, similar to the beliefs about FES cycling on urine output and lower limb swelling, it is not yet clear whether FES cycling affects spasticity. There are some studies indicating an immediate dampening of spasticity from one-off episodes of ES but these studies are vulnerable to bias and do not provide convincing evidence of the effects of FES cycling on spasticity (Krause et al 2008, Skold et al 2002, van der Salm et al 2006). Therefore, the research question for this study was: Does
a learn more two-week FES cycling program increase urine output and decrease lower limb swelling and spasticity in people with recent spinal cord injury? A 5-week cross-over randomised trial was undertaken, where participants received both experimental and control phases. Each participant underwent the 2-week control phase and the 2-week experimental phase. During the experimental phase, participants selleck products received FES cycling for 2 weeks. During the control phase, participants did not receive any FES cycling. The order of the two phases was randomised with a 1-week washout period in between. Participants continued to receive other usual care throughout the trial. A blocked randomisation allocation schedule was computer-generated by an independent person to ensure equal numbers of participants commenced with the FES cycling phase and control phase (Schulz et al 2010). Each participant’s allocation was placed
in a sealed, opaque and sequentially numbered envelope and kept at an off-site location. Once a participant passed the initial screening process, an independent person was contacted, an envelope opened and allocation revealed. The participant was deemed to have entered the trial at this point. Fourteen participants with an upper motor neuron lesion following recent spinal cord injury were consecutively recruited from two Sydney spinal cord injury units found over an 18-month period commencing July 2011. Participants were included if they: had sustained a spinal cord injury (traumatic or non-traumatic) within the preceding six months; were currently receiving inpatient rehabilitation; were over 16 years of age; were diagnosed with an American Spinal Cord Injury Association Impairment Scale (AIS) of A, B or C with less than 5/50 lower limb strength according to the International Standards for Neurological Classification of Spinal Cord Injury; and could tolerate FES cycling for at least 20 minutes within a one-hour period. Participants were excluded if: they had participated in a FES cycling program in the preceding two weeks; ES was medically contraindicated; or they had a limited ability to comply.
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