• Gunes Comba Cebeci, Halil Cebeci, Mehtap Pehlivanlar Kucuk, Ahmet Oguzhan Kucuk, Ilkay Koray Bayrak, and Fatma Ulger.
• Department of Anaesthesiology and Reanimation, Istanbul Eyupsultan State Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey.
• J Coll Physicians Surg Pak. 2022 Oct 1; 32 (10): 1300-1307.

ObjectiveTo investigate the efficacy of neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) application in preventing muscle wasting in intensive care unit (ICU) patients diagnosed with sepsis/septic shock.Study DesignA single-centre, unblinded, parallel-group, prospective, randomised clinical study.Place And Duration Of StudyOndokuz Mayıs University, Faculty of Medicine Hospital, Level 3 ICU, between October 28th 2018, and October 1st, 2020.MethodologyEighty patients from a single centre who were diagnosed with sepsis/septic shock, followed up at level 3 ICU, and met the criteria were included. The patients were evaluated in 2 groups: One who received physiotherapy alone (n=40) and the other who received physiotherapy + NMES (n=40). The development of intensive care unit-muscle wasting was evaluated in patients of both groups. Muscle wasting was identified by anthropometric and ultrasonographic measurements. The day the patients were diagnosed with sepsis was determined as the first day and the bilateral anthropometric and ultrasonographic measurements of the biceps brachii and rectus femoris muscles were obtained on days 3, 7, 14, 21, and 28.ResultsThere was no significant difference between the groups in the ultrasonographic and anthropometric measurements on days 1, 3, and 7 (p>0.005). However, the ultrasonographic measurements of the group that received physiotherapy + NMES demonstrated a significantly lower loss in the upper extremities on days 14 and 21 compared to the group that received physiotherapy alone (p=0.003 and p=0.028, respectively). No significant difference was found in the anthropometric measurements.ConclusionThe NMES, which have been increasingly used as new treatment protocols in the prevention of ICU-AW, yield favourable results in patients with sepsis/septic shock.Key WordsIntensive care unit, Acquired weakness, Neuromuscular electrical stimulation, Muscle wasting, Sepsis.

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