Effect of Electrical Stimulation and Vibration Therapy on Skeletal Muscle Trophism in Rats with Complete Spinal Cord Injury.

OBJECTIVE: The goals of this work were to analyze the skeletal muscle changes after complete spinal cord injury (SCI) in rats and to compare the effects of electrical stimulation and whole-body vibration on prevention of muscle hypotrophy in these animals. DESIGN: Seven-week-old male Wistar rats were divided into four groups: (1) sham operation (sham, n = 12), (2) SCI (n = 10), (3) SCI + electrical stimulation (n = 9), and (4) SCI + whole-body vibration (n = 9). Complete SCI was generated by surgical transection of the cord at the T10 level. Therapies were initiated 3 days after the surgery and continued for 30 days at a frequency of 3 days per week, 20 mins per day. The animals were killed on day 33 after injury for subsequent analyses. RESULTS: SCI caused a significant decrease in muscle mass and fibers, perimeter measurements, and mechanical resistance to traction as well as an increase in fibrotic tissue. Electrical stimulation, but not whole-body vibration, resulted in significant partial muscle hypotrophy prevention. CONCLUSIONS: Electrical stimulation may be a potentially beneficial therapeutic modality to prevent muscle hypotrophy after SCI.