None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
The study will have a pretest-posttest design and will be conducted on community-dwelling people with SCI. Participants will train a partially paralysed muscle group for six weeks. The purpose of this study is to determine changes in muscle architecture of partially paralysed muscles in response to strength training. An understanding of the underlying causes of strength increases in people with spinal cord injury will help inform the development and provision of rehabilitation programs. Muscle architecture will be measured before and after training using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). The participants will receive a strength-training program for the target muscle group three times a week for 6 weeks which will consist of both isometric and concentric contractions. We hypothesise that strength training of partially paralysed muscles will increase muscle physiological cross-sectional area
Interventions
The intervention will be a strength training program. One target muscle group will be chosen from either the elbow flexors, elbow extensors, knee flexors or knee extensors. The selected muscle group will be partially paralysed. If more than one muscle group is suitable for inclusion, we will choose the muscle group expected to benefit most from strength training or the muscle group the participant would most like to train. Participants will train the target muscle group on one side of the body,
The intervention will be a strength training program. One target muscle group will be chosen from either the elbow flexors, elbow extensors, knee flexors or knee extensors. The selected muscle group will be partially paralysed. If more than one muscle group is suitable for inclusion, we will choose the muscle group expected to benefit most from strength training or the muscle group the participant would most like to train. Participants will train the target muscle group on one side of the body, three times a week for six weeks. The training program will adhere to the principles of progressive resistance training. Training will consist of forty maximal contractions in four sets of ten, with two minutes rest between sets. The first two sets of ten repetitions will be isometric contractions and the second two sets of ten repetitions will be concentric contractions. Resistance will be applied manually by a therapist because, with very weak muscles, it is difficult or impossible to provide the target resistance using free weights or isokinetic dynamometry. The therapist will ensure that the resistance is sufficient to exhaust the participant by the end of the set, so that the participant is unable to perform another intense contraction after the tenth. If, over the course of the training program, a participant’s strength increases to the extent that the therapist is no longer able to provide sufficient resistance, weights will be applied to the participant’s limb to provide additional resistance. A record of training sessions will be kept on file. When training sessions are missed, additional sessions will be provided to make up missed sessions.
Sponsors
Neuroscience Research Australia
Study design
Allocation
Non-randomised trial
Intervention model
Single group
Primary purpose
Treatment
Masking
Open (masking not used)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
People will be included if they: 1. have any type of SCI (i.e., complete or incomplete as defined by the International Standards for Neurological classification of SCI) 2. have partial paralysis in one of the target muscle groups (i.e., elbow flexor, elbow extensor, knee flexor or knee extensor muscles) 3. have grade 1 to 4 strength on the 6-point manual muscle test (MMT) in the target muscle group 4. are aged 18 years or over at the time of consent 5. are willing to participate in the trial 6. are free of any other type of neurological lesion
Exclusion criteria
1. had any condition preventing testing or training of the target muscle group, for example unstable fractures in target limb or uncontrollable spasticity. 2. had completed more than 3 consecutive weeks of progressive resistance training for the target muscle group in the last 3 months. 3. were unable to co-operate. 4. had insufficient English to provide informed consent 5. were unable to remain still in the MRI scanner for the duration of the scan.
Outcome results
None listed