NMES and Pelvic Fracture Rehabilitation

The Use of Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation With Pelvic Fracture Rehabilitation: A Randomised, Double Blind, Pilot Study

Status

Completed

Phases

Study type

Interventional

Source

ClinicalTrials.gov

Registry ID

NCT03278834

Enrollment

Registered

2017-09-12

Start date

2014-01-01

Completion date

2014-06-01

Last updated

2017-09-12

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Rehabilitation, Trauma

Brief summary

Objectives: The acute care of pelvic fractures has improved recently however there are no formal guidelines for rehabilitation of these types of fractures. Patients have long periods of non-weight bearing causing muscle wastage. Neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) has proven to minimise muscle loss. However, this has not previously been investigated within this patient population. Design: Double blind, randomised, feasibility study. Setting: NHS trust hospital setting. Participants: Nine patients with surgically fixed pelvic fractures were randomly allocated at six weeks post fracture. Interventions: The intervention group completed six weeks of NMES. The placebo group used transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS). Main outcome measures: Peak torque (Nm) was calculated in the operated limb at 12 weeks using the non-operated limb as a baseline. Compliance and intensity levels were recorded. Feasibility of NMES was evaluated using a feasibility questionnaire. Pain was measured at six and 12 weeks using a visual analogue scale (VAS).

Interventions

DEVICENeuromuscular muscle stimulation machine- Strength Setting

Muscle stimulation to strength skeletal muscle

DEVICENeuromuscular muscle stimulation machine - TENS Setting

Muscle stimulation to mimic the intervention but without the strength gains.

Study design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Intervention model

FACTORIAL

Primary purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

DOUBLE (Subject, Outcomes Assessor)

Intervention model description

Treatment and intervention group

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

ALL

Age

18 Years to 60 Years

Healthy volunteers

Yes

Inclusion criteria

* Inclusion criteria were any patient with a pelvic fracture that was surgically fixed with no associated injuries and able to give written informed consent. * Pelvic fractures including acetabular and pelvic ring fracture that were fixed using open reduction internal fixation (ORIF) were considered.

Exclusion criteria

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame	Description
Muscle Strength	12 weeks post operation	Peak Torque muscle strength

Secondary

Measure	Time frame	Description
Feasibility questionnaire	12 weeks post operation	questionnaire of 10 questions

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026