title: The Effect of Electrical Stimulation Combined with Foam Dressing on Ulcer Healing in Rats with Spinal Cord Injury.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the effect of electrical stimulation (ES) combined with foam dressing on wound healing in rats with spinal cord injury.
  
  
  METHODS
  Complete spinal cord injury was induced in 49 male Sprague-Dawley rats at the T11-L1 level, after which a pressure ulcer was induced on the left thigh. The newly invented surface electrode, which was fitted with foam inside, was applied to the ulcers. Rats were divided into 2 groups as follows: the ES group, which received foam dressings and ES (2 Hz and 200-microsecond duration, 15 mA) for 4 times a day, 30 minutes each, for 3 weeks; and the control group, which received the foam dressings without ES. The ulcer area was measured by taking a photograph daily from day 0 to day 21. Histopathologic and immune-histochemical evaluations were performed on day 1 and days 7, 14, and 21.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The area of the ulcers of the ES group was smaller than that of the control group after day 14 (P < .05). In the ES group, the vascularity was significantly greater on day 14 and more decreased on day 21 compared with day 7 than that in the control group (P < .05). In the ES group, the area of positive reaction to anti-α-SMA antibody was increased compared with the control group on days 7 and 14 and decreased on day 21 (P > .05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Electrical stimulation combined with foam dressing by means of newly invented surface electrodes facilitates and accelerates the wound-healing process.
authors.affiliation: Ki-Pi Yu, MD, is Associate Professor in the Department of Rehabilitation, University of Seonam College of Medicine, Presbyterian Medical Center, Jeonju, Republic of Korea. Seol Bong Yoo, MD, PhD, is Associate Professor in the Department of Pathology, University of Seonam College of Medicine. Seok Jeong Yang, MD, is Associate Professor, and Yong-Soon Yoon, MD, PhD, is Associate Professor in the Department of General Surgery, University of Seonam College of Medicine.
authors.forename: Ki-Pi
authors.initials: KP
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Seol Bong
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Yoo
authors.forename: Seok Jeong
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Yong-Soon
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Yoon
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001458:Bandages; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004599:Electric Stimulation Therapy; D008159:Lumbar Vertebrae; D008297:Male; D011140:Polyurethanes; D003668:Pressure Ulcer / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000150:complications*; D013904:Thoracic Vertebrae; D014945:Wound Healing
chemical_list: D011140:Polyurethanes