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Noninvasive Spinal Stimulation Improves Gait in Long-Term Stroke Survivors

Elliot J. Roth, MD (Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL); Yaejin Moon, n/a; Kelly McKenzie, n/a; Lindsey Yingling, PT, DPT, NCS; Kristine Buchler, PT, DPT; Jasmine Hunt, n/a; Richard L. Lieber, PhD; Arun Jayaraman, PT, PhD

Meeting: AAPM&R Annual Assembly 2020

Categories: Neurological Rehabilitation (2020)

Session Information

Date: Saturday, November 14, 2020

Session Title: Live Poster Session: Neurological Rehabilitation

Session Time: 3:00pm-4:00pm

Disclosures: Elliot J. Roth, MD: No financial relationships or conflicts of interest

Objective: To determine the effectiveness of noninvasive electrical spinal stimulation as a therapeutic strategy to improve walking function in chronic stroke survivors.

Design: Case series study. Setting : Laboratory /in Rehabilitation Hospital Participants : Eight chronic stroke survivors were assigned into either the stimulation group (stim; n=4) or control group (n=4). Participants in each group were matched with regard to age, time since stroke and gait speed.

Interventions: The stim group received noninvasive electrical spinal stimulation during intensive gait training. The control group received intensive gait training only. For the stim group, electrical spinal stimulation was delivered via electrodes placed on the skin between the spinous processes of C5-C6, T11-T12 and L1-L2. Both groups received 24 sessions of gait training focusing on improving gait symmetry

Main Outcome Measures: Pre-Post changes in gait performance measures including spatiotemporal gait symmetry, the 10 meter-walk-test (10MWT), and the 6 minute-walk-test (6MWT).

Results: All four participants in the Stim group demonstrated improvement in step-length symmetry (average 28% increase) and swing-time symmetry (average 17% increase) while participants in the control group showed a minimal change (less than 1%) in those metrics. All participants in the Stim group increased their fast gait speed over the minimal clinically important difference (MCID; 0.14m/s) during 10MWT. On the other hand, although three controls showed improvement in gait speed, these changes did not exceed the MCID. Additionally, while all participants in the Stim group showed improvement in 6MWT over MCID (34.4m), only one participant in the control group showed improvement over the MCID. Conclusions: These findings suggest that the use of noninvasive electrical spinal stimulation as a gait rehabilitation tool could significantly increase the efficacy of gait training in stroke survivors.

Level of Evidence: Level II

To cite this abstract in AMA style:

Roth EJ, Moon Y, McKenzie K, Yingling L, Buchler K, Hunt J, Lieber RL, Jayaraman A. Noninvasive Spinal Stimulation Improves Gait in Long-Term Stroke Survivors [abstract]. PM R. 2020; 12(S1)(suppl 1). https://pmrjabstracts.org/abstract/noninvasive-spinal-stimulation-improves-gait-in-long-term-stroke-survivors/. Accessed May 15, 2025.
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