Enhancement of gait restoration in spinal injured patients by functional electrical stimulation

Functional electrical stimulation (FES) was applied in 50 spinal cord injury patients in an effort to restore standing and walking. All patients in the program with lesions from T4-T12 were able to stand by means of FES. Walking, utilizing a four-channel stimulator, was accomplished by 25 patients with lesions in the range from T4-T12. These 25 patients represent approximately 5% of all spinal cord injured patients treated in the authors' rehabilitation facility during this time period. After using the stimulation in a home environment for more than three months, the number of patients who continued to use the stimulation for walking declined, and 16 patients remained ambulatory. The discontinuance of FES was mainly because of the time required to put on and operate the FES system and difficulties adapting to a new home environment and living situation.