ArticlePloS one2018
Improvements in bladder, bowel and sexual outcomes following task-specific locomotor training in human spinal cord injury.
Article in PloS one, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 2 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 74 papers, 3 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.
Effects of Activity Dependent Plasticity on Recovery of Bladder and Sexual Function After Human Spinal Cord Injury
Combined Gait Training and Transcutaneous Spinal Cord Stimulation to Enhance Lower Limbs Motor Recovery After Subacute SCI
Who cites it
74 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 129 citations in OpenAlex.
- Spinal cord stimulation to manage autonomic dysfunction after spinal cord injury: a systematic review.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2026Pooled it
- Guideline
- Management of Neurogenic Bowel Dysfunction in Adults after Spinal Cord Injury: Clinical Practice Guideline for Health Care Providers.Topics in spinal cord injury rehabilitationGuideline
- Motivations and expectations for spinal cord epidural stimulation study participation: perspectives from individuals with spinal cord injury and caregivers.Spinal cord · 2026Trial
- Transspinal stimulation preceding step training reorganizes spinal locomotor circuits in human spinal cord injury: a randomized sham-controlled clinical trial.Frontiers in neural circuits · 2026Trial
- Exoskeletal-Assisted Walking During Acute Inpatient Rehabilitation Enhances Recovery for Persons with Spinal Cord Injury-A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of neurotrauma · 2024Trial
- Trial
- Non-Invasive Activation of Cervical Spinal Networks after Severe Paralysis.Journal of neurotrauma · 2018Trial
- A Pilot Feasibility Trial of Multi-Program Epidural Spinal Cord Stimulation for Bladder Function Recovery in Chronic Spinal Cord Injury.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Article
- Spinal cord neuromodulation for autonomic recovery following spinal cord injury: a scoping review.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation · 2026Article
- Cuneiform Nucleus Stimulation Can Assist Gait Training to Promote Locomotor Recovery in Individuals With Incomplete Tetraplegia.Annals of neurology · 2026Article
- Multi-system benefits of non-invasive spinal cord stimulation following cervical spinal cord injury: a case study.Bioelectronic medicine · 2025Article
- Polypharmacy in spinal cord injury: Matched cohort analysis comparing drug classes, medical complications, and healthcare utilization metrics with 24-month follow-up.The journal of spinal cord medicine · 2025Article
- Development of an activity-based therapy tracking tool: Item generation and reduction using the Delphi method.The journal of spinal cord medicine · 2025Article
- Human spinal cord activation during filling and emptying of the bladder.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Catheterization Method and Functional Recovery of Neurogenic Bladder in Spinal Cord Injury.JAMA network open · 2025Article
- Epidural Stimulation and Resistance Training (REST-SCI) for Overground Locomotion After Spinal Cord Injury: Randomized Clinical Trial Protocol.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Article
- Relevance of Leg Rehabilitation to Modulating Neurogenic Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms: A Systematic Review.Bioengineering (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Article
- Amplify Gait to Improve Locomotor Engagement in Spinal Cord Injury (AGILE SCI) trial: study protocol for an assessor blinded randomized controlled trial.BMC neurology · 2024Article
14 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveLocomotor training (LT) as a therapeutic intervention following spinal cord injury (SCI) is an effective rehabilitation strategy for improving motor outcomes, but its impact on non-locomotor functions is unknown. Given recent results of our labs' pre-clinical animal SCI LT studies and existing overlap of lumbosacral spinal circuitries controlling pelvic-visceral and locomotor functions, we addressed whether LT can improve bladder, bowel and sexual function in humans at chronic SCI time-points (> two years post-injury). STUDY
designProspective cohort study; pilot trial with small sample size.
methodsEight SCI research participants who were undergoing 80 daily one-hour sessions of LT on a treadmill using body-weight support, or one-hour of LT and stand training on alternate days, as part of another research study conducted at the Kentucky Spinal Cord Injury Research Center, University of Louisville, were enrolled in this pilot trial. Urodynamic assessments were performed and International Data Set questionnaire forms completed for bladder, bowel and sexual functions at pre-and post-training time points. Four usual care (non-trained; regular at-home routine) research participants were also enrolled in this study and had the same assessments collected twice, at least 3 months apart.
resultsFilling cystometry documented significant increases in bladder capacity, voiding efficiency and detrusor contraction time as well as significant decreases in voiding pressure post-training relative to baseline. Questionnaires revealed a decrease in the frequency of nocturia and urinary incontinence for several research participants as well as a significant decrease in time required for defecation and a significant increase in sexual desire post-training. No significant differences were found for usual care research participants.
conclusionsThese results suggest that an appropriate level of sensory information provided to the spinal cord, generated through task-specific stepping and/or loading, can positively benefit the neural circuitries controlling urogenital and bowel functions.
trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT03036527.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.