The purpose of the study is to assess the effects of exoskeleton training on neurogenic bowel disorders in spinal cord injury/ disease.
After being informed about the study and the potential risks, all patients giving written consents will undergo a medical examination to ensure they are eligible and fit to proceed for the study. Subjects will be randomly assigned to intervention group and control group. Intervention group will receive 2 consecutive courses of exoskeleton training (ET) with twelve 45-minute sessions, each to be completed in 6 to 8 weeks. The total period of training will be 12 to 16 weeks. Control group will receive twelve 45-minute sessions of usual physiotherapy treatment (PT), consisting of maintenance exercise in the first 6 to 8 weeks, and then one course of ET with twelve 45-minute sessions in the following 6 to 8 weeks.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
10
Walking exercise with Ekso NR
MacLehose Medical Rehabilitation Centre
Hong Kong, Hong Kong
RECRUITINGThe change in Neurogenic Bowel Dysfunction (NBD) score in International SCI bowel function basic data set (version 2.0)
Measurement of the change in the NBD score (0-45, 0-6 Very minor, 7-9 Minor, 10-13 Moderate and 14 or more Severe neurogenic bowel dysfunction) calculated in the data set.
Time frame: Week 0 (Pre-training), Week 8, , Week 16, week 24
The change in defaecation time (DT)
The change in average time in minutes to complete defaecation in one week
Time frame: Week 0 (Pre-training), Week 8, , Week 16, week 24
The change in frequency of bowel incontinence episodes
The change in number of times of bowel incontinence in the week before
Time frame: Week 0 (Pre-training), Week 8, , Week 16, week 24
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