Combined whole-body vibration and neuromuscular electrical stimulation therapy in Spinal Cord Injury patients

Each subject was assessed in 5 different sessions and all the sessions were separated by at least 48 hours. In the first session subjects were familiarized with the testing procedures and interventions. In the remaining 4 sessions, 4 interventions were applied in random order (one intervention per session). The 4 interventions were: WBV alone (WBV), ES alone (ES), WBV and ES simultaneous (WBV+ES), and 30s of WBV followed by 30s of ES (WBV30/ES30). In these sessions, 10 sets of 1 min of intervention and 1 min of rest were carried out with subjects seated on their own wheelchair with feet placed on the vibration platform. The frequency of vibration was set at 10 Hz and the amplitude at 5 mm (peak to peak). When ES was used, a rectangular, biphasic and symmetric wave with a pulse width of 400 microseconds and 8 Hz was applied. Three, 2-mm-thick, self-adhesive electrodes were used on each leg: one electrode (10x5 cm) was placed about 2 cm below the popliteal fold, and 2 electrodes (5x5 cm) were placed as close as possible to the motor points of the gastrocnemius medialis and lateralis. Current intensity was increased until the subject’s motor threshold (mean achieved intensity: 46.6 +/-12.3 mA). Finally, interventions were applied by a qualified profesional in sport sciences.