Abdominal Functional Electrical Stimulation to Assist Ventilator Weaning in Acute Tetraplegia: A Cohort Study

This study explores using Abdominal Functional Electrical Stimulation (AFES) to help people with acute tetraplegia (paralysis of all four limbs) wean off mechanical ventilation. AFES involves applying electrical pulses to abdominal muscles to improve respiratory function. The researchers applied AFES to participants and compared their progress to matched controls. They measured Tidal Volume (VT) and Vital Capacity (VC) weekly to assess respiratory function improvements. The results suggest AFES is clinically feasible and may improve respiratory function, potentially leading to faster weaning from mechanical ventilation in acute tetraplegia patients.

• 1
  Stimulated Tidal Volume (VT) was significantly greater than unstimulated VT, indicating an immediate positive effect of AFES on respiratory function.
• 2
  Both stimulated and unstimulated Vital Capacity (VC) increased significantly throughout the study, suggesting an improvement in overall respiratory function with AFES training.
• 3
  Intervention participants weaned from mechanical ventilation on average 11 days faster than their matched controls, although this difference was not statistically significant.