Does Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation Therapy Increase Voluntary Muscle Strength After Spinal Cord Injury? A Systematic Review

Spinal cord injury (SCI) disrupts neural inputs, leading to muscle weakness or paralysis below the injury site. This can cause muscle deterioration, impacting strength and daily activities. Neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) is often used to try and increase voluntary strength in weakened muscles after SCI. However, it's unclear if NMES is truly effective for this purpose. This systematic review examines existing research to determine if NMES increases voluntary strength in partially paralyzed muscles of people with SCI, compared to other treatments or no treatment.

• 1
  Two studies found that NMES increased strength, measured by peak force and manual muscle force test, after the NMES protocol.
• 2
  One study found a between-group difference favoring NMES combined with progressive resistance training.
• 3
  Three studies found no significant differences between groups receiving NMES and control groups, suggesting NMES was not superior.