[Meta-analysis of effects of neuromuscular electrical stimulation of lower limbs on patients with mechanical ventilation in intensive care unit].

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the effect of lower limb neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) on mechanical ventilation patients in intensive care unit (ICU).

METHODS

Databases including the Cochrane Library, PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, SinoMed, CNKI, VIP and Wanfang database were searched from inception to May 2021. Randomized controlled trails (RCT) about the influence of NMES of lower limbs in patients with mechanical ventilation in ICU were collected. Routine rehabilitation measures were implemented in the control group, while the combination of routine rehabilitation and NMES on the lower limbs was implemented in the observation group. The literature screening, data extracting, and bias risk assessment of included studies were conducted independently by two reviewers. RevMan 5.3 software was used to perform Meta-analysis. Funnel plot was used to test publication bias.

RESULTS

A total of 8 RCT were eventually enrolled. The literature quality evaluation results showed that 1 study was grade A and 7 studies were grade B, suggesting that the quality of the included literature was relatively high. The Meta-analysis results showed that NMES in the lower extremities could effectively shorten the duration of mechanical ventilation in ICU patients [standardized mean difference (SMD) = -0.51, 95% confidence interval (95%CI) was -0.72 to -0.31, P < 0.000 01], increase the maximum inspiratory pressure [MIP; mean difference (MD) = 14.19, 95%CI was 9.30 to 19.09, P < 0.000 01], and improve the functional status of critically ill patients [functional status score for ICU (FSS-ICU); MD = 10.44, 95%CI was 3.12 to 17.77, P = 0.005] with statistically significances. However, there were no significant advantages in increasing the Medical Research Council (MRC) score (MD = 2.13, 95%CI was -1.38 to 5.63, P = 0.23), reducing ICU mortality [relative risk (RR) = 0.80, 95%CI was 0.51 to 1.24, P = 0.31], shortening length of ICU stay (MD = -0.54, 95%CI was -3.67 to 2.59, P = 0.74), and the combined effect was not statistically significant. Funnel plot based on the duration of mechanical ventilation showed that the distribution of included articles was basically symmetrical, and no publication bias was detected.

CONCLUSIONS

NMES of the lower limbs can not only shorten the ventilation duration effectively, but also improve the MIP and functional status of mechanically ventilated patients in ICU. However, it has no significant effect on the MRC score, ICU mortality and length of ICU stay of patients with mechanical ventilation. In the future, high-quality, large sample size and multi-center RCT are needed to verify the effects of NMES.