Electrical stimulation and virtual reality-guided balance training for managing paraplegia and trunk dysfunction due to spinal cord infarction

Abstract

A 41-year-old woman presented with spinal cord infarction and paraplegia after acute thoracoabdominal aortic dissection. Clinical evaluation revealed the American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) lower limb exercise score of 0 points and the Functional Assessment for Control of Trunk (FACT) score of 0 points. Conventional physical therapy for 60 days did not significantly improve the paraplegia or FACT score; therefore, belt electrode skeletal muscle electrical stimulation (B-SES) and virtual reality (VR)-guided sitting balance training were introduced for 30 days. She developed independence for all basic movements and her gait was restored using short leg braces and Lofstrand crutches. At discharge, her ASIA lower limb exercise score was 24 and FACT score was 7, with a functional impedance measure motor item of 57, and she could continuously walk for a distance of 150 m. The combination of B-SES and VR-guided balance training may be a feasible therapeutic option after spinal cord infarction.