title: Improvement of metabolic and cardiorespiratory responses through treadmill gait training with neuromuscular electrical stimulation in quadriplegic subjects.
abstract: This work assessed the influence of treadmill gait training with neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) on the metabolic and cardiorespiratory responses in quadriplegic subjects. The gait group (GG) (n=11) performed 6 months of treadmill training with 30-50% body weight support and with the help of physiotherapists, twice a week, allotting 20 min for each session. The control group (CG) (n=10), during the 6 months of training, did not perform any activity using NMES, performing instead conventional physiotherapy. Metabolic and cardiorespiratory responses (O(2) uptake [VO(2)], CO(2) production [VCO(2)], pulmonary ventilation (V(E)), heart rate [HR], and blood pressure [BP]) were measured on inclusion and after 6 months. For the GG, differences were found in all parameters after training (P<0.05), except for HR and diastolic BP. During gait, VO(2) (L/min) increased by 36%, VCO(2) (L/min) increased by 42.97%, V(E) (L/min) increased by 30.48%, and systolic BP (mm Hg) increased by 4.8%. For the CG, only VO(2) and VCO(2) (L/min) significantly increased at rest (30.82 and 16.39%, respectively) and during knee-extension exercise (26.29 and 17.37%, respectively). Treadmill gait with NMES was, therefore, more efficient toward increasing the aerobic capacity due to yielding higher metabolic and cardiovascular stresses.
authors.affiliation: Orthopedics Department, Faculty of Medical Sciences, State University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, Brazil.
authors.forename: Daniela Cristina Leite
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: de Carvalho
authors.forename: Cristiane Luzia
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Martins
authors.forename: Simone David
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Cardoso
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cliquet
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology; D002245:Carbon Dioxide / Q000378:metabolism; D004599:Electric Stimulation Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D005684:Gait / Q000502:physiology*; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010101:Oxygen Consumption / Q000502:physiology; D012123:Pulmonary Ventilation / Q000502:physiology; D011782:Quadriplegia / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000534:rehabilitation*
chemical_list: D002245:Carbon Dioxide