Long-Paralyzed Patients Move Legs With Epidural Stimulation
- Spinal Cord Trauma and Related Diseases
- Central Cord Syndrome
- Spinal Cord Injury and Aging
Researchers have developed what they describe as a “fundamentally new” treatment approach for paralysis: epidural stimulation.
In a new report, they describe how 4 men with chronic complete motor paralysis were able to recover some voluntary movement after receiving epidural stimulation from an implanted unit. The ability of these patients to move voluntarily improved over time with daily stimulation and training.
The study seems to indicate that electrical stimulation can reprogram damaged nerves in the spinal cord so they regain the ability to receive stimuli.
“After their injury, these patients are pretty much told that they’re never going to be able to move again and are going to be wheelchair bound for the rest of their life,” said lead author Claudia A. Angeli, PhD, senior researcher, Frazier Rehab Institute, Kentucky One Health, and Department of Neurological Surgery, Kentucky Spinal Cord Research Center, University of Louisville, Kentucky.
“So this is very significant, particularly for the individuals who were classified as motor and sensory complete.”
Their findings are published online April 8 in Brain.
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