Improvement of metabolic and cardiorespiratory responses through treadmill gait training with neuromuscular electrical stimulation in quadriplegic subjects.
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.
de Carvalho
Daniela Cristina Leite
DC
Orthopedics Department, Faculty of Medical Sciences, State University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, Brazil.
Martins
Cristiane Luzia
CL
Cardoso
Simone David
SD
Cliquet
Alberto
A
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*
D002245:Carbon Dioxide