LAUSR

Restoring hand function for persons dealing with life-long cervical spinal cord injury (SCI) remains a high priority. While there is currently no cure, most injuries are incomplete, leaving the possibility to harness recovery through spared circuits important for voluntary movement. Thus, there is need for new therapeutic approaches that target these pathways and promote functional recovery after SCI. In the May issue of Neurotrauma, Gad et al. published a preliminary study of a non-invasive treatment that may augment spared spinal connections to restore voluntary hand function in persons with chronic, incomplete SCI. The team hypothesized that stimulation promotes a greater functional state of residual spinal circuitry that allow plastic changes in trained sensorimotor pathways directed at restoring hand strength. To test this hypothesis, the authors enrolled 8 participants in a 4-week intervention program (2 sessions/week) that included transcutaneous stimulation to cervical segments combined with a series of voluntary isometric hand grip tasks, first without stimulation, followed by series of attempts to generate maximum grip with and without stimulation. Results included bilateral hand grip strength improvement in all participants after the treatment program. Combined stimulation with training resulted in maximum voluntary hand grip forces that increased 325% and persisted without stimulation. Authors report that participants also expressed improvement in daily living activities and quality of life. However, future success of this technique will depend on outcomes from larger follow-up trials. In summary, Gad et al. present preliminary evidence in support of a novel treatment, which appears to hold promise compared to other contemporary methods to restore hand use after SCI.