Evidence map›Paper›PMID 23701811›Full record

SynthesisBMC medicine2013

Neuromuscular electrical stimulation for preventing skeletal-muscle weakness and wasting in critically ill patients: a systematic review.

Nicola A Maffiuletti, Marc Roig, Eleftherios Karatzanos, Serafim Nanas

3 registry-linked trialsAbstract readSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in BMC medicine, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 3 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 70 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
70citing papers in PubMed, 5 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

NCT02321163 naunknown statusnot on this mapstarted 2016, after this paper: background citation

A New Paradigm of Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation in Attenuating Muscle Atrophy: a Randomised Controlled Trial

TypeinterventionalSponsorThe Hong Kong Polytechnic UniversityRan2016 to 2017Enrolled105ConditionsCOPDArmsNMES new paradigm, NMES conventional, NMES no stimulation
NCT03615469 naterminatednot on this mapstarted 2018, after this paper: background citation

Building Strength Through Rehabilitation for Heart Failure Patients

TypeinterventionalSponsorIndiana UniversityRan2018 to 2020Enrolled15ConditionsHeart FailureArmsTranscutaneous electrical stimulation, Neuromuscular electrical stimulation
NCT05450120 naunknown statusnot on this mapstarted 2020, after this paper: background citation

Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation and Functional Rehabilitation Protocol in Critically Ill Patients With SARS-CoV-2 Variants in ICUs With Limited Resources: A Randomized Clinical Trial

TypeinterventionalSponsorUniversidade Federal de Sao CarlosRan2020 to 2022Enrolled88ConditionsCOVID-19 Acute Respiratory Distress SyndromeArmsFunctional Rehabilitation, Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

70 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

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10 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Nicola A MaffiulettiNeuromuscular Research Laboratory, Schulthess Clinic, Zurich, Switzerland. nicola.maffiuletti@kws.ch
Marc Roig
Eleftherios Karatzanos
Serafim Nanas

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundNeuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) therapy may be useful in early musculoskeletal rehabilitation during acute critical illness. The objective of this systematic review was to evaluate the effectiveness of NMES for preventing skeletal-muscle weakness and wasting in critically ill patients, in comparison with usual care.

methodsWe searched PubMed, CENTRAL, CINAHL, Web of Science, and PEDro to identify randomized controlled trials exploring the effect of NMES in critically ill patients, which had a well-defined NMES protocol, provided outcomes related to skeletal-muscle strength and/or mass, and for which full text was available. Two independent reviewers extracted data on muscle-related outcomes (strength and mass), and participant and intervention characteristics, and assessed the methodological quality of the studies. Owing to the lack of means and standard deviations (SDs) in some studies, as well as the lack of baseline measurements in two studies, it was impossible to conduct a full meta-analysis. When means and SDs were provided, the effect sizes of individual outcomes were calculated, and otherwise, a qualitative analysis was performed.

resultsThe search yielded 8 eligible studies involving 172 patients. The methodological quality of the studies was moderate to high. Five studies reported an increase in strength or better preservation of strength with NMES, with one study having a large effect size. Two studies found better preservation of muscle mass with NMES, with small to moderate effect sizes, while no significant benefits were found in two other studies.

conclusionsNMES added to usual care proved to be more effective than usual care alone for preventing skeletal-muscle weakness in critically ill patients. However, there is inconclusive evidence for its benefit in prevention of muscle wasting.

Indexed as

Critical IllnessElectric Stimulation TherapyHumansMuscle StrengthMuscle WeaknessNeuromuscular JunctionRandomized Controlled Trials as Topic

Identifiers

PMID23701811
PMCPMC3668245

What OpenQuestion holds

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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.