NMES and Pelvic Fracture Rehabilitation

Barts & The London NHS Trust9 enrolled

Overview

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).

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

DOUBLE

Enrollment

Conditions

Trauma Rehabilitation

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 18 YearsMax age: 60 YearsHealthy volunteers:

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

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: * Exclusion criteria were patients who could not comply with the NMES or who had previous mental health diagnosis. * Patients who may be pregnant, have severe kidney injury or have a pacemaker were excluded.

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Muscle Strength

Peak Torque muscle strength

Time frame: 12 weeks post operation

Secondary Outcomes

Feasibility questionnaire

questionnaire of 10 questions

Time frame: 12 weeks post operation