[Experimental and clinical basis of a method for electrostimulation in spinal cord damage]

In order to assess the advantages of spinal cord electrostimulation at the level below its lesion as a therapeutic intervention restoring motor and autonomic function, experiments were performed in 54 cats with spinal lesions at D11-D12 level. Seven patients with cervical and dorsal lesions were clinically investigated. Both in humans and animals electrostimulation of the spinal cord was applied below the lesioned site all the day round for 30 to 40 days. Early electrostimulation proved effective as a means to recover the motor and autonomic functions, though it had some limitations. In severe lesions of the spinal cord, despite its stimulation, muscular atrophy increased with concomitant decrease in the amplitude of the slow wave electrical activity (SWEA) which was due to spontaneous rhythmical micromovements (SRM). Tissue SRM is essential for the normal functioning of any organ. Thus, interventions stimulating muscular SRM are as necessary as the early electrostimulation.