Clinical Evaluation of the Effect of Spinal Cord Stimulation on Motor Performance in Patients with Upper Motor Neuron Lesions

Abstract

The effect of chronic electrical stimulation of the spinal cord was evaluated in a group of 24 patients with multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injury, and degenerative disorders of the central nervous system. The systems for stimulation had been implanted from 12 to 30 months prior to completion of evaluation. At the time of completion of evaluation, 23 of the 24 patients still had implanted systems, although 6 of them had not used spinal cord stimulation because of no noticeable effect. In 3 patients stimulation had been disconnected because of technical failure of the system. In 1 patient the system had been removed 8 weeks after implantation because of inflammation in the under-skin receiver pocket. The effects on motor performance of the remaining 14 patients who had continuously active systems were improved bladder control, diminished spasticity, improved movement coordination, and increased endurance.

Beneficial Augmentation following Dorsal Column Stimulation in Some Neurological Diseases

“…Abbate et al [1], Cook [2-4J and others [6,7,[12][13][14][15][16][17][18]22] have confirmed and ex tended these findings. Dooley [12] reported improvements following DCS in patients having spinocerebellar disorders (CD) as had Waltz and Parti [22] in cerebral palsy.…”

Effect of Implanted Epidural Stimulator on Lower Urinary Tract Function in Spinal-Cord-Injured Patients

“…Urodynamic parameters of patients with preoperative hyperreflexia without postoperative changes ulation on the lower urinary tract function can be better assessed. Some authors have reported improvement in the bladder function of spinal-cord-injured patients with epidural stimulation [11,12], while others have not noted an overall favorable effect [13]. Campos [11] reported improvement in the bladder function following epidural stimulator placement in 24 patients, including 7 with spinal cord injury.…”

“…Some authors have reported improvement in the bladder function of spinal-cord-injured patients with epidural stimulation [11,12], while others have not noted an overall favorable effect [13]. Campos [11] reported improvement in the bladder function following epidural stimulator placement in 24 patients, including 7 with spinal cord injury. However, neither the specifics of the voiding pattern nor the urodynamic evaluation were reported.…”

Effect of Epidural Spinal Cord Stimulation on the Activity of Lateral Vestibular Nucleus Neurons in the Cat

“…Apparent improvement in pain [24], im provement in bladder function [21] and decrease in limb spasticity [3,22] were reported, although subjective assessment interfered with ob jective confirmation. Electrophysiological studies on experimental an imals at present throw almost no light on the mode of action of the efThis study was supported by Serbian Research Fund feet of spinal cord stimulation on spasticity.…”