ArticleJournal of intensive care2019
Neuromuscular electrical stimulation in critically ill traumatic brain injury patients attenuates muscle atrophy, neurophysiological disorders, and weakness: a randomized controlled trial.
Article in Journal of intensive care, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 31 papers, 6 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.
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
31 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 51 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
- 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
- Post-operative electrical muscle stimulation attenuates loss of muscle mass and function following major abdominal surgery in older adults: a split body randomised control trial.Age and ageing · 2022Trial
- Breath-synchronized electrical stimulation of the expiratory muscles in mechanically ventilated patients: a randomized controlled feasibility study and pooled analysis.Critical care (London, England) · 2020Trial
- Diagnostic Performance of the Strength-Duration Test for Bedside Screening of Critical Illness Polyneuropathy and/or Myopathy: A Prospective, Cross-Sectional Study.Muscle & nerve · 2026Article
- Early Measurement of Quadriceps Response to Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation to Identify Future ICU-Acquired Weakness.Critical care medicine · 2026Observational
- Impact of Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation on Biological Markers in Critically Ill Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Critical care research and practice · 2026Review
- Early Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation and In-Bed Leg Cycling Preserve Quadriceps Femoris Muscle Thickness in Critically Ill Patients.Physiotherapy research international : the journal for researchers and clinicians in physical therapy · 2025Article
- Myokine Secretion Dynamics and Their Role in Critically Ill Patients: A Scoping Review.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Review
- Comment on "Acute Sarcopenia: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis on Its Incidence and Muscle Parameter Shifts During Hospitalisation" by Aldrich et al.Journal of cachexia, sarcopenia and muscle · 2025Article
- The Japanese Clinical Practice Guidelines for Management of Sepsis and Septic Shock 2024.Journal of intensive care · 2025Article
- Comment on 'Acute Sarcopenia: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis on Its Incidence and Muscle Parameter Shifts During Hospitalisation' by Aldrich et al.: The Authors' Reply.Journal of cachexia, sarcopenia and muscle · 2025Article
- Recent Trends in Physical Therapy Interventions and Neuromodulation Techniques to Improve Neurorehabilitation.CNS & neurological disorders drug targets · 2025Review
- Methodologies and clinical applications of lower limb muscle ultrasound in critically ill patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Annals of intensive care · 2024Review
- Effects of acute phase intensive electrical muscle stimulation in COVID-19 patients requiring invasive mechanical ventilation: an observational case-control study.Scientific reports · 2024Observational
- Japanese Clinical Practice Guidelines for Rehabilitation in Critically Ill Patients 2023 (J-ReCIP 2023).Journal of intensive care · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
13 authors at 6 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundCritically ill traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients experience extensive muscle damage during their stay in the intensive care unit. Neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) has been considered a promising treatment to reduce the functional and clinical impacts of this. However, the time needed for NMES to produce effects over the muscles is still unclear. This study primarily aimed to assess the time needed and effects of an NMES protocol on muscle architecture, neuromuscular electrophysiological disorder (NED), and muscle strength, and secondarily, to evaluate the effects on plasma systemic inflammation, catabolic responses, and clinical outcomes.
methodsWe performed a randomized clinical trial in critically ill TBI patients. The control group received only conventional physiotherapy, while the NMES group additionally underwent daily NMES for 14 days in the lower limb muscles. Participants were assessed at baseline and on days 3, 7, and 14 of their stay in the intensive care unit. The primary outcomes were assessed with muscle ultrasound, neuromuscular electrophysiology, and evoked peak force, and the secondary outcomes with plasma cytokines, matrix metalloproteinases, and clinical outcomes.
resultsSixty participants were randomized, and twenty completed the trial from each group. After 14 days, the control group presented a significant reduction in muscle thickness of tibialis anterior and rectus femoris, mean of - 0.33 mm (- 14%) and - 0.49 mm (- 21%),
conclusionsNMES applied daily for fourteen consecutive days reduced muscle atrophy, the incidence of NED, and muscle weakness in critically ill TBI patients. At least 7 days of NMES were required to elicit the first significant results.
trial registrationThe trial was registered at ensaiosclinicos.gov.br under protocol RBR-8kdrbz on 17 January 2016.
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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.