Exercise testing using upper extremity ergometry in pediatric spinal cord injury.
OBJECTIVE
To describe an upper extremity ergometer test for children with spinal cord injury (SCI) and examine differences based on injury level for peak heart rate (HR peak), oxygen uptake (VO 2 peak/kg), and peak power output per kilogram (W peak/kg).


METHODS
Twenty-nine children with motor complete SCI participated. Nine had low cervical (C7, C8), 9 had upper thoracic (T1-T4), and 11 had mid/low thoracic (T5-T11) SCI. HR peak, VO2 peak/kg, and W peak/kg were compared based on these 3 injury level groupings.


RESULTS
HR peak (p = 0.013), VO 2 peak/kg (p = 0.041), and W peak/kg (p = 0.001) differed between groups. The mid/low thoracic group had the highest values for each variable.


CONCLUSIONS
The differences in HR peak, VO 2 peak/kg, and W peak/kg were consistent with exercise effects reported for adults with SCI. Further research is needed to develop an appropriate standardized ergometric test for children with SCI.
Johnston
Therese E
TE
Shriners Hospital for Children, Philadelphia, PA 19140, USA. tjohnston@shrinenet.org
Smith
Brian T
BT
Betz
Randal R
RR
Lauer
Richard T
RT
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005080:Exercise Test / Q000295:instrumentation*; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010264:Paraplegia / Q000209:etiology*; D005082:Physical Exertion / Q000502:physiology; D010865:Pilot Projects; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000150:complications*; D034941:Upper Extremity / Q000503:physiopathology*