Chest
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Acute ventilatory support during whole-body hybrid rowing in patients with high-level spinal cord injury: a randomized controlled cross-over trial.
High-level spinal cord injury (SCI) results in profound spinal and supraspinal deficits, leading to substantial ventilatory limitations during whole-body hybrid functional electrical stimulation (FES)-rowing, a form of exercise that markedly increases the active muscle mass via electrically induced leg contractions. This study tested the effect of noninvasive ventilation (NIV) on ventilatory and aerobic capacities in SCI. ⋯ Acute NIV can successfully improve ventilatory efficiency during FES exercise in SCI but may not improve Vo2peak in all patients. Those who benefit most seem to be patients with cervical SCI within a shorter time since injury.