Observations on Rehabilitation of Traumatic Paraplegia using Body Weight Support Training and Functional Electrical Stimulation

Abstract

Walking is the unthinking transportation of daily life, supporting countless but essential trips within home and beyond, walking holds profound symbolic importance. When a person sustains spinal cord injury the most obvious functional limitation encountered is loss of ambulation. Conventional rehabilitation primarily provides compensatory strategy for accomplishing mobility and strengthening above the level of lesion. Recently new approach to facilitate locomotor recovery and bladder and bowel emptying have been explored,these include:-1) Body weight support walking (BWS), 2) Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) and 3) Interferential Therapy (IFT) To determine whether BWS training, FES and IFT have potential to improve walking function and bladder emptying in individuals with SCI, 20 subjects with spinal cord injury at the level of dorsolumber and lumbosacral regions were studied. Significant improvement in the muscle power of lower limbs and bladder control was seen in patients who received FES and IFT after the injury and at follow up of 6 months. Body support walking proved to be effective in early rehabilitation of patients with SCI. Hence comprehensive management with these gadgets provided early ambulation, bladder and bowel training and overall rehabilitation of patients. Such patients can be made independent for their ADL within the home with orthotic devices, wheel chair etc.

Keywords

• Spinal Cord Injury
• Rehabilitation
• Interferential therapy
• Body weight support