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Clinical Use of Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation for Neuromuscular Rehabilitation: What Are We Overlooking?
Journal article

Clinical Use of Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation for Neuromuscular Rehabilitation: What Are We Overlooking?

  • Maffiuletti NA Human Performance Laboratory, Schulthess Clinic, Zurich, Switzerland. Electronic address: nicola.maffiuletti@kws.ch.
  • Gondin J NeuroMyoGene Institute, University Claude Bernard Lyon 1, INSERM U1217, CNRS UMR 5310, Villeurbanne, France.
  • Place N Institute of Sport Sciences, Faculty of Biology Medicine, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
  • Stevens-Lapsley J Physical Therapy Program, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Colorado, Aurora, CO; Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center, VA Eastern Colorado Healthcare System, Denver, CO.
  • Vivodtzev I INSERM U1042, HP2 Laboratory (Hypoxia: Pathophysiology), University Grenoble Alps, Grenoble, France.
  • Minetto MA Division of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Department of Surgical Sciences, University of Turin, Turin, Italy.
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  • 2017-12-14
Published in:
  • Archives of physical medicine and rehabilitation. - 2018
Electric stimulation
Muscle strength
Quadriceps muscle
Rehabilitation
Algorithms
Electric Stimulation Therapy
Humans
Muscle, Skeletal
Neuromuscular Diseases
English The clinical success of neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) for neuromuscular rehabilitation is greatly compromised by the poor consideration of different physiological and methodological issues that are not always obvious to the clinicians. Therefore, the aim of this narrative review is to reexamine some of these fundamental aspects of NMES using a tripartite model perspective. First, we contend that NMES does not actually bypass the central nervous system but results in a multitude of neurally mediated responses that contribute substantially to force generation and may engender neural adaptations. Second, we argue that too much emphasis is generally placed on externally controllable stimulation parameters while the major determinant of NMES effectiveness is the intrinsically determined muscle tension generated by the current (ie, evoked force). Third, we believe that a more systematic approach to NMES therapy is required in the clinic and this implies a better identification of the patient-specific impairment and of the potential "responders" to NMES therapy. On the basis of these considerations, we suggest that the crucial steps to ensure the clinical effectiveness of NMES treatment should consist of (1) identifying the neuromuscular impairment with clinical assessment and (2) implementing algorithm-based NMES therapy while (3) properly dosing the treatment with tension-controlled NMES and eventually amplifying its neural effects.
Language
  • English
Open access status
closed
Identifiers
Persistent URL
https://sonar.rero.ch/global/documents/43324
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