TITLE:
Comparison of Electromyography Responses in Spinal Cord Injury Patients Using an Operant Conditional Protocol Treatment
AUTHORS:
Christiane Pereira Cavalcante de Abreu, Lucia Helena Storer Ribeiro, Maria Eugenia Mayr de Biase, Tarcisio Eloy de Pessoa Barros Filho
KEYWORDS:
Spinal Cord Injury, Biofeedback, Electromyography, Learning, Neuroplasticity
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Therapy and Rehabilitation,
Vol.10 No.4,
November
24,
2022
ABSTRACT: Background Electromyography (EMG) biofeedback has been used in spinal cord injury rehabilitation, but optimal indication
and treatment protocols still need to be identified. Objectives To use an operant conditioning learning paradigm to
compare the EMG responses in subjects with spinal cord injury for optimal indication of EMG biofeedback treatment. Participants Thirty rehabilitation
outpatients with incomplete cervical spinal cord injury. The subjects were
divided into three groups based on their scores on the ASIA scale (ASIA B, ASIA
C and ASIA D groups), with ten patients in each group. Methods Repeated-measure trials were conducted to compare patients’ EMG responses between pre-initial and post-biofeedback
treatment. In the sessions, visual
feedback of EMG activity of the triceps brachii muscle was provided to
the patient in accordance with the treatment protocol. Results One-way
ANOVA and the Kruskal-Wallis test were used to examine the differences in the
measures between groups. The initial EMG and final EMG measures were not significantly different between the ASIA C and
D groups, but these measures were different between the ASIA B group and
the ASIA C and D groups. In the ASIA B group, the EMG responses started out
lower than those in the other groups and varied less, especially in comparison
to the ASIA C group. Conclusion: These results reveal that the patients
classified as ASIA C and D achieved better responses of the operant conditional
learning protocol and optimal indication for the biofeedback treatment.