Effects of an abdominal binder and electrical stimulation on cough in patients with spinal cord injury

We explored the effect of an abdominal binder, with or without electrical stimulation, on peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) in 12 paraplegics with complete thoracic cord (T2-T12) injury (mean age 36.0 +/- 1.5 yr) and 12 quadriplegics with complete cervical cord (C4-C8) injury (mean age 36.2 +/- 1.9 yr). The cough was assessed by measuring the PEFR during forceful expiration in a sitting position. The subjects underwent the following experimental maneuvers in a random order with a 10-minute interval between any two maneuvers: 1) voluntary coughing, 2) voluntary coughing with an abdominal binder, and 3) voluntary coughing with an abdominal binder and electrical stimulation. The electrical stimulator (50 Hz with 300 microseconds pulse width) was applied to the abdominal wall. Data were analyzed using multivariate analysis of variance for repeated measures. The abdominal binder did not significantly increase PEFR in either paraplegics or quadriplegics; the abdominal binder combined with electrical stimulation significantly increased PEFR by 15% in the paraplegics and 18% in the quadriplegics. These results indicate that electrical stimulation combined with an abdominal binder improves the cough ability in patients with cervical or thoracic spinal cord injury.