ArticleJournal of cachexia, sarcopenia and muscle2019
Muscle wasting and function after muscle activation and early protocol-based physiotherapy: an explorative trial.
Article in Journal of cachexia, sarcopenia and muscle, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 45 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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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.
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Who cites it
45 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 95 citations in OpenAlex.
- Neuromuscular electrical stimulation for early rehabilitation in critically ill patients: a systematic review of applied protocols.Critical care (London, England) · 2026Pooled it
- Reporting of nutritional screening, status, and intake in trials of nutritional and physical rehabilitation following critical illness: a systematic review.The American journal of clinical nutrition · 2025Pooled it
- Outcomes in critically ill patients after diaphragmatic stimulation on ventilator-induced diaphragmatic dysfunction: a systematic review.European journal of physical and rehabilitation medicine · 2023Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Trial
- A randomized controlled trial to determine whether beta-hydroxy-beta-methylbutyrate and/or eicosapentaenoic acid improves diaphragm and quadriceps strength in critically Ill mechanically ventilated patients.Critical care (London, England) · 2021Trial
- Differential contractile response of critically ill patients to neuromuscular electrical stimulation.Critical care (London, England) · 2019Trial
- Article
- Distinct diurnal temperature rhythm patterns in critical illness myopathy: secondary analysis of two prospective trials.Annals of intensive care · 2025Article
- The role of adipose tissue in critical illness-induced skeletal muscle wasting-new considerations for treatment approaches.Journal of applied physiology (Bethesda, Md. : 1985) · 2025Review
- Medium-Frequency Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation in Critically Ill Patients Promoted Larger Functional Capacity Improvement During Recovery than Low-Frequency Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation: Randomized Clinical Trial.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Article
- Preventing muscle loss through early mobilization in non-critically ill older adults admitted to surgical intensive care units.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Branched-Chain Amino Acids and Di-Alanine Supplementation Attenuates Muscle Atrophy in a Murine Model of Cancer Cachexia.Acta physiologica (Oxford, England) · 2025Article
- Muscle weakness after critical illness: unravelling biological mechanisms and clinical hurdles.Critical care (London, England) · 2025Review
- Myokine Secretion Dynamics and Their Role in Critically Ill Patients: A Scoping Review.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Review
- Age-related thinning of orbicularis oculi muscle inside upper eyelid and its possible association with sunken upper eyelids.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Pathophysiology and Therapeutic Management of Bone Loss in Patients with Critical Illness.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Early mobilisation in critically ill COVID-19 patients: a subanalysis of the ESICM-initiated UNITE-COVID observational study.Annals of intensive care · 2023Article
- Inflammation and altered metabolism impede efficacy of functional electrical stimulation in critically ill patients.Critical care (London, England) · 2023Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
13 authors at 6 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundEarly mobilization improves physical independency of critically ill patients at hospital discharge in a general intensive care unit (ICU)-cohort. We aimed to investigate clinical and molecular benefits or detriments of early mobilization and muscle activating measures in a high-risk ICU-acquired weakness cohort.
methodsFifty patients with a SOFA score ≥9 within 72 h after ICU admission were randomized to muscle activating measures such as neuromuscular electrical stimulation or whole-body vibration in addition to early protocol-based physiotherapy (intervention) or early protocol-based physiotherapy alone (control). Muscle strength and function were assessed by Medical Research Council (MRC) score, handgrip strength and Functional Independence Measure at first awakening, ICU discharge, and 12 month follow-up. Patients underwent open surgical muscle biopsy on day 15. We investigated the impact of muscle activating measures in addition to early protocol-based physiotherapy on muscle strength and function as well as on muscle wasting, morphology, and homeostasis in patients with sepsis and ICU-acquired weakness. We compared the data with patients treated with common physiotherapeutic practice (CPP) earlier.
resultsICU-acquired weakness occurs within the entire cohort, and muscle activating measures did not improve muscle strength or function at first awakening (MRC median [IQR]: CPP 3.3 [3.0-4.3]; control 3.0 [2.7-3.4]; intervention 3.0 [2.1-3.8]; P > 0.05 for all), ICU discharge (MRC median [IQR]: CPP 3.8 [3.4-4.4]; control 3.9 [3.3-4.0]; intervention 3.6 [2.8-4.0]; P > 0.05 for all), and 12 month follow-up (MRC median [IQR]: control 5.0 [4.3-5.0]; intervention 4.8 [4.3-5.0]; P = 0.342 for all). No signs of necrosis or inflammatory infiltration were present in the histological analysis. Myocyte cross-sectional area in the intervention group was significantly larger in comparison with the control group (type I +10%; type IIa +13%; type IIb +3%; P < 0.001 for all) and CPP (type I +36%; type IIa +49%; type IIb +65%; P < 0.001 for all). This increase was accompanied by an up-regulated gene expression for myosin heavy chains (fold change median [IQR]: MYH1 2.3 [1.1-2.7]; MYH2 0.7 [0.2-1.8]; MYH4 5.1 [2.2-15.3]) and an unaffected gene expression for TRIM63, TRIM62, and FBXO32.
conclusionsIn our patients with sepsis syndrome at high risk for ICU-acquired weakness muscle activating measures in addition to early protocol-based physiotherapy did not improve muscle strength or function at first awakening, ICU discharge, or 12 month follow-up. Yet it prevented muscle atrophy.
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