Electromyographic patterns of the rat hindlimb in response to muscle stretch after spinal cord injury.

Study Design: Experimental Study.

Objectives: To characterize the specific hindlimb electromyographic (EMG) patterns in response to muscle stretch and to measure the applied forces during stretching in the rat model of moderate SCI.

Setting: Kentucky Spinal Cord Injury Research Center, Louisville, KY, USA.

Hindlimb stretching alters locomotor function after spinal cord injury in the adult rat.

Background: Stretching is a widely accepted standard-of-care therapy following spinal cord injury (SCI) that has not been systematically studied in animal models.

Objective: To investigate the influence of a daily stretch-based physical therapy program on locomotor recovery in adult rats with moderate T9 contusive SCI.

Methods: A randomized treatment and control study of stretching in an animal model of acute SCI.