NCT01272011

Effects of Breathing and Walking Treatments on Recovery Post-Spinal Cord Injury

Intermittent Hypoxia and Locomotor Training: Effects Following SCI

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 16 (actual)
• Sponsor: VA Office of Research and Development · Federal
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

Change to Reflect What Was Done and reason Changes Were Made. The purpose of this study is to determine (1) if a specific breathing treatment (intermittent hypoxia) can promote changes in breathing function and (2) if pairing breathing treatments (hypoxia) with locomotor training can enhance the benefits of walking recovery observed with locomotor training alone (without breathing treatments).

Detailed description

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a very disabling health problem. Paralysis and paresis of limb and trunk muscles are major consequences of SCI and result in the inability to walk or difficulty walking. The most commonly stated goal by individuals with SCI during rehabilitation is the desire to walk again. Locomotor training (LT) that uses a body-weight support system and treadmill (BWST) is a task-specific rehabilitation intervention that allows practice of walking at normal speeds while loading the lower extremities, facilitating upright posture, and hip extension. Substantial improvement in ambulation can occur following locomotor training (LT) in individuals with motor incomplete spinal cord injury (iSCI). Despite these advances in activity-dependent rehabilitation, a need exists for defining complementary strategies that further amplify endogenous neuroplasticity. The proposed study will assess the therapeutic potential of (1) a respiratory training intervention (acute intermittent hypoxia, or AIH) on breathing function and (2) a combined locomotor (LT) and respiratory (AIH) training intervention for enhancing walking recovery.

Conditions

• Spinal Cord Injuries
• Brown Sequard
• Central Cord Syndrome

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
OTHER	Intermittent Hypoxia	Individuals received exposure to intermittent hypoxia for 10 days, and placebo for 1-2 days.
OTHER	Locomotor Training	Individuals received 10 days of locomotor training, intense walking training on a treadmill with body weight support. Manual assistance was provided at the legs to optimize stepping patterns.

Timeline

• Start date: 2010-05-01
• Primary completion: 2014-08-01
• Completion: 2014-08-01
• First posted: 2011-01-07
• Last updated: 2016-03-29
• Results posted: 2016-03-29

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States