Basal metabolic rate and autonomic nervous system dysfunction in men with spinal cord injury.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between autonomic nervous system dysfunction and basal metabolic rate (BMR), and the effect of spasticity on basal metabolic rate.


METHODS
Twenty men (11 paraplegic and 9 tetraplegic) with American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA)-A and -B grade chronic spinal cord injury (SCI) participated in this study. Total body fat mass and lean tissue mass were measured in all participants using DXA by standard methods. Patients were allocated into 2 groups to determine the effect of autonomic nervous system dysfunction on BMR: Group I (T6 and upper-level injuries with history of autonomic dysreflexia) and Group II (T7 and lower-level injuries without history of autonomic dysreflexia). Measurements of BMR were determined by indirect calorimetry under standardized conditions.


RESULTS
There were 13 patients in Group I and 7 patients in Group II and the difference between these two in terms of time since injury, BMI, age, weight, lean tissue mass, BMR, and BMR/kg were not significant.


CONCLUSIONS
We concluded that autonomic nervous system dysfunction does not affect BMR, and it might be ignored in considering energy needs in spinal cord injury.
Yilmaz
Bilge
B
Turkish Armed Forces Rehabilitation Center, Ankara, Turkey. bilgeyilmaztr@hotmail.com
Yasar
Evren
E
Goktepe
Salim
S
Alaca
Ridvan
R
Yazicioglu
Kamil
K
Dal
Ugur
U
Mohur
Haydar
H
D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001341:Autonomic Nervous System / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001481:Basal Metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002153:Calorimetry, Indirect; D004734:Energy Metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013904:Thoracic Vertebrae / Q000293:injuries