title: The characterization of contractile and myoelectric activities in paralyzed tibialis anterior post electrically elicited muscle fatigue.
abstract: This study aimed to understand the myoelectric and mechanical characteristics of muscle recovering from electrically elicited fatigue. A modified Burke fatigue protocol was delivered to activate the tibialis anterior of 13 spinal cord injured subjects for 4 min. Before and after the fatigue protocol, a series of pulse trains was delivered to induce three twitches and a fused contraction at 0, 1, 3, and 5 min and then followed every 5 min for 60 min. The recovery processes of the ankle dorsiflexion torque and the evoked electromyography (EMG) parameters were analyzed and characterized by a first-order exponential equation. The recovery process was found to be faster in regard to tetanic muscle contraction. Factors relating to low-frequency fatigue, postfatigue potentiation, and the quickly normalized relaxation rate were taken into account for the discussion of this result. During the recovery process, the disassociation was found not only between twitch and tetanic contractions but also between mechanical and myoelectric activities. After the complete normalization of EMG parameters from about 15 min post fatigue, the tetanic force recovered incompletely to an asymptotic level.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Physical Therapy, I-Shou University, Kaohsiung County, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Nan-Ying
authors.initials: NY
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Shao-Hsia
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Chang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D004576:Electromyography; D019054:Evoked Potentials, Motor / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007866:Leg; D008297:Male; D009119:Muscle Contraction / Q000502:physiology*; D018763:Muscle Fatigue / Q000502:physiology*; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000503:physiopathology*; D010243:Paralysis / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013904:Thoracic Vertebrae