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Updated: May 10, 2026
Paradigms of Lower Extremity Electrical Stimulation Training After Spinal Cord Injury
Published on: February 1, 2018
Case report: endurance electrical stimulation training improves skeletal muscle oxidative capacity in chronic spinal
Terence E Ryan1, Melissa L Erickson1, Hui-Ju Young1
1Department of Kinesiology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA.
Objective:
To describe the use of a novel neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) endurance exercise protocol and its effects on skeletal muscle oxidative capacity.
Design:
Case report, pre/post intervention.
Setting:
University-based trial.
Participant:
A 39-year-old man who suffered a motor complete spinal cord injury (C5-6, ASIA Impairment Scale grade A).
Intervention:
Twenty-four weeks of endurance NMES that consisted of progressive increases in the twitch frequency, duration of sessions, and sessions per week.
Main Outcome Measure:
Mitochondrial capacity was measured, in vivo, as the rate of recovery of muscle oxygen consumption using near-infrared spectroscopy.
Results:
The rate of recovery of muscle oxygen consumption increased approximately 3-fold from 0.52 to 1.43, 1.46, and 1.40/min measured on 3 separate occasions during week 12 of training, and 1.57/min after 24 weeks of NMES endurance training.
Conclusion:
The findings of this study suggest that NMES endurance training using twitches can increase mitochondrial capacity to comparable levels measured in nonparalyzed muscles of sedentary able-bodied controls.
