Influence of Locomotion Therapy With the Wearable Cyborg HAL on Bladder and Bowel Function in Acute and Chronic SCI Patients

This study explores whether using the HAL Robot Suit during locomotion therapy can improve bladder and bowel function in patients with spinal cord injuries. The study involved a 12-week training period with the HAL device, and participants completed questionnaires before and after to assess changes in bowel incontinence, constipation, and bladder function. The findings suggest that exoskeleton training may lead to improvements in bladder and bowel function, especially for patients with higher initial scores for bowel incontinence and constipation.

• 1
  The Wexner Score, indicating bowel incontinence, significantly decreased over all patients and specifically for the group of chronic patients.
• 2
  A self-developed questionnaire showed an improvement in bladder function in 28.24% of all patients, with varying percentages in chronic and acute subgroups.
• 3
  Patients with higher baseline scores in Wexner Score and CCCS (constipation) appeared to benefit more from the exoskeleton training.