Trial reportCritical care (London, England)2009
Electrical muscle stimulation preserves the muscle mass of critically ill patients: a randomized study.
Trial report in Critical care (London, England), 2009. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 4 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 115 papers, 16 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Electrical Muscle Stimulation (EMS), a Preventive and Therapeutic Tool for Critical Illness Polyneuromyopathy (CIPNM)- A Randomized Controlled Parallel Intervention Trial.
Effects of Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation on Muscle Mass and Strength in Critically Ill Patients After Cardiothoracic Surgery. An Ultrasound-Based Randomized Controlled Trial
Southern Medical University Clinical Research Project Initiative：Efficacy and Safety of a Multicomponent Physical Therapy Program in Mechanically Ventilated Patient With Sepsis
Sarcopenia and Related Factors in COVID-19 Following Intensive Care
Who cites it
115 citing papers in PubMed, 16 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 368 citations in OpenAlex.
- Korean clinical practice guidelines for rehabilitation in critically ill patients and post-intensive care syndrome.Acute and critical care · 2026Guideline
- Neuromuscular electrical stimulation for early rehabilitation in critically ill patients: a systematic review of applied protocols.Critical care (London, England) · 2026Pooled it
- Acute Sarcopenia: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis on Its Incidence and Muscle Parameter Shifts During Hospitalisation.Journal of cachexia, sarcopenia and muscle · 2025Pooled it
- Effect of neuromuscular electrical stimulation in critically ill adults with mechanical ventilation: a systematic review and network meta-analysis.BMC pulmonary medicine · 2024Pooled it
- The effect of electrical stimulation in critical patients: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Frontiers in neurology · 2024Pooled it
- The effects of neuromuscular electrical stimulation on hospitalised adults: systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials.Age and ageing · 2023Pooled it
- Therapeutic Potential of Electromyostimulation (EMS) in Critically Ill Patients-A Systematic Review.Frontiers in physiology · 2022Pooled it
- The efficacy and prescription of neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) in adult cancer survivors: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2018Pooled it
- Neuromuscular electrical stimulation for muscle weakness in adults with advanced disease.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2016Pooled it
- S2e guideline: positioning and early mobilisation in prophylaxis or therapy of pulmonary disorders : Revision 2015: S2e guideline of the German Society of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine (DGAI).Der Anaesthesist · 2015Guideline
- Quantitative neuromuscular ultrasound in intensive care unit-acquired weakness: A systematic review.Muscle & nerve · 2015Pooled it
- Physical rehabilitation for critical illness myopathy and neuropathy.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2015Pooled it
- Interventions for preventing critical illness polyneuropathy and critical illness myopathy.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2014Pooled it
- Neuromuscular electrical stimulation for preventing skeletal-muscle weakness and wasting in critically ill patients: a systematic review.BMC medicine · 2013Pooled it
- Metabolic and structural changes in lower-limb skeletal muscle following neuromuscular electrical stimulation: a systematic review.PloS one · 2013Pooled it
- Safety of neuromuscular electrical stimulation among critically ill patients: systematic review.Revista Brasileira de terapia intensivaPooled it
- Does high frequency exercise or electrical muscle stimulation improve strength and function in non-weight bearing, older patients? The PAIVE pilot randomised trial.BMC geriatrics · 2025Trial
- Functional Magnetic Neuromuscular Stimulation vs. Routine Physiotherapy in the Critically Ill for Prevention of ICU Acquired Muscle Loss: A Randomised Controlled Trial.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2024Trial
- Effect of neuromuscular electrical stimulation combined with early rehabilitation therapy on mechanically ventilated patients: a prospective randomized controlled study.BMC pulmonary medicine · 2023Trial
- Trial
55 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
10 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionCritically ill patients are characterized by increased loss of muscle mass, partially attributed to sepsis and multiple organ failure, as well as immobilization. Recent studies have shown that electrical muscle stimulation (EMS) may be an alternative to active exercise in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and chronic heart failure (CHF) patients with myopathy. The aim of our study was to investigate the EMS effects on muscle mass preservation of critically ill patients with the use of ultrasonography (US).
methodsForty-nine critically ill patients (age: 59 +/- 21 years) with an APACHE II admission score >or=13 were randomly assigned after stratification upon admission to receive daily EMS sessions of both lower extremities (EMS-group) or to the control group (control group). Muscle mass was evaluated with US, by measuring the cross sectional diameter (CSD) of the vastus intermedius and the rectus femoris of the quadriceps muscle.
resultsTwenty-six patients were finally evaluated. Right rectus femoris and right vastus intermedius CSD decreased in both groups (EMS group: from 1.42 +/- 0.48 to 1.31 +/- 0.45 cm, P = 0.001 control group: from 1.59 +/- 0.53 to 1.37 +/- 0.5 cm, P = 0.002; EMS group: from 0.91 +/- 0.39 to 0.81 +/- 0.38 cm, P = 0.001 control group: from 1.40 +/- 0.64 to 1.11 +/- 0.56 cm, P = 0.004, respectively). However, the CSD of the right rectus femoris decreased significantly less in the EMS group (-0.11 +/- 0.06 cm, -8 +/- 3.9%) as compared to the control group (-0.21 +/- 0.10 cm, -13.9 +/- 6.4%; P < 0.05) and the CSD of the right vastus intermedius decreased significantly less in the EMS group (-0.10 +/- 0.05 cm, -12.5 +/- 7.4%) as compared to the control group (-0.29 +/- 0.28 cm, -21.5 +/- 15.3%; P < 0.05).
conclusionsEMS is well tolerated and seems to preserve the muscle mass of critically ill patients. The potential use of EMS as a preventive and rehabilitation tool in ICU patients with polyneuromyopathy needs to be further investigated.
trial registrationclinicaltrials.gov: NCT00882830.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.