Department of Neurobiology, University of California, Los Angeles, California.
Rancho Research Institute, Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center, Downey, California.
J Neurophysiol. 2020 Sep 1;124(3):774-780. doi: 10.1152/jn.00320.2020. Epub 2020 Aug 5.
Respiratory dysfunction is one of the most debilitating effects of spinal cord injury (SCI) impacting the quality of life of patients and caregivers. In addition, breathing difficulties impact the rehabilitation routine a patient may potentially undergo. Transcutaneous electrical spinal cord neuromodulation (TESCoN) is a novel approach to reactivate and retrain spinal circuits after paralysis. We demonstrate that acute and chronic TESCoN therapy over the cervical spinal cord positively impacts the breathing and coughing ability in a patient with chronic tetraplegia. ln addition, we show that the improved breathing and coughing ability are not only observed in the presence of TESCoN but persisted for a few days after TESCoN was stopped. Noninvasive spinal neuromodulation improves breathing and coughing in a patient with severe and complete tetraplegia.
呼吸功能障碍是脊髓损伤（SCI）最使人虚弱的影响之一，影响患者和护理人员的生活质量。此外，呼吸困难会影响患者可能接受的康复常规。经皮脊髓电刺激神经调节（TESCoN）是一种在瘫痪后重新激活和重新训练脊髓回路的新方法。我们证明，急性和慢性颈段脊髓 TESCoN 治疗对慢性四肢瘫痪患者的呼吸和咳嗽能力有积极影响。此外，我们还表明，改善呼吸和咳嗽能力不仅在 TESCoN 存在时观察到，而且在 TESCoN 停止后几天内仍持续存在。非侵入性脊髓神经调节可改善严重和完全四肢瘫痪患者的呼吸和咳嗽能力。
