Efficacy of neuromuscular electrical stimulation for preventing quadriceps muscle wasting in patients with moderate or severe acute stroke: A pilot study.

Background: Stroke-related muscle wasting is one of the factors leading to long-term disability and functional dependency. No study has reported an effective therapeutic intervention for such muscle wasting.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) on quadriceps muscle mass preservation in patients with acute moderate or severe stroke by using ultrasonography (US).

Methods: Twenty patients with acute, moderate, or severe stroke (age: 68±11 years) were divided into usual care group (control group) and intervention groups (NMES group), respectively. Patients in the NMES group underwent NMES treatment for bilateral quadriceps muscles for 2 weeks in addition to the usual care. Quadriceps muscle thickness was measured on admission and 2 weeks after the first measurement.

Results: The quadriceps muscle thickness on the paretic and non-paretic sides in the NMES group (-12.4% ±12.7%, -5.5% ±15.3%, respectively) significantly decreased to a lesser degree than that in the control group (-29.5% ±12.1%, P = 0.004; and -22.0% ±16.8%, P = 0.04, respectively).

Conclusions: NEMS seemed to have preserved the quadriceps muscle mass in patients with moderate or severe acute stroke.