Effect of detraining on bone strength in subjects with chronic spinal cord injury after a period of electrically-stimulated-cycling : a small cohort study

Frotzler, Angela and Coupaud, Sylvie and Perret, Claudio and Kakebeeke, Tanja and Hunt, Kenneth and Eser, Prisca (2009) Effect of detraining on bone strength in subjects with chronic spinal cord injury after a period of electrically-stimulated-cycling : a small cohort study. Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine, 41 (4). pp. 282-285. ISSN 1650-1977 (https://doi.org/10.2340/16501977-0321)

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Abstract

To investigate adaptive changes in bone and muscle parameters in the paralysed limbs after detraining or reduced functional electrical stimulation (FES) induced cycling following high-volume FES-cycling in chronic spinal cord injury. Five subjects with motor-sensory complete spinal cord injury (age 38.6 years, lesion duration 11.4 years) were included. Four subjects stopped FES-cycling completely after the training phase whereas one continued reduced FES-cycling (2–3 times/week, for 30 min). Bone and muscle parameters were assessed in the legs using peripheral quantitative computed tomography at 6 and 12 months after cessation of high-volume FES-cycling. Gains achieved in the distal femur by high-volume FES-cycling were partly maintained at one year of detraining: 73.0% in trabecular bone mineral density, 63.8% in total bone mineral density, 59.4% in bone mineral content and 22.1% in muscle cross-sectional area in the thigh. The subject who continued reduced FES-cycling maintained 96.2% and 95.0% of the previous gain in total and trabecular bone mineral density, and 98.5% in muscle cross-sectional area. Bone and muscle benefits achieved by one year of high-volume FES-cycling are partly preserved after 12 months of detraining, whereas reduced cycling maintains bone and muscle mass gained. This suggests that high-¬volume FES-cycling has clinical relevance for at least one year after detraining.

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