SynthesisJournal of orthopaedic surgery and research2023
The efficacy of gait rehabilitations for the treatment of incomplete spinal cord injury: a systematic review and network meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Journal of orthopaedic surgery and research, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 2 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
12 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 19 citations in OpenAlex.
- The effect of robot-assisted gait training on physical activity outcomes in people with spinal cord injury: A systematic review.Clinical rehabilitation · 2026Pooled it
- Can robot-assisted gait training improve walking and activity abilities in persons with spinal cord injury? A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Frontiers in neurologyPooled it
- Efficacy of combined repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation and occupational therapy in spinal cord injury patients: a randomized controlled clinical study.Spinal cord · 2026Article
- Decoding lower-limb movement attempts from electro-encephalographic signals in spinal cord injury patients.APL bioengineering · 2026Article
- Human-machine Interface using functional electrostimulation and inertial sensors for lower limb rehabilitation in spinal cord injury individuals: a proof of concept.Medical & biological engineering & computing · 2026Article
- Enhancing Functional Recovery After Spinal Cord Injury Through Neuroplasticity: A Comprehensive Review.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Advances and New Therapies in Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Review
- Global Research Trends on Gait Rehabilitation in Individuals With Spinal Cord Injury- A Bibliometric Analysis.Global spine journal · 2024Review
- Automatic Assist Level Adjustment Function of a Gait Exercise Rehabilitation Robot with Functional Electrical Stimulation for Spinal Cord Injury: Insights from Clinical Trials.Biomimetics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Effects of a Gait Training Program on Spinal Cord Injury Patients: A Single-Group Prospective Cohort Study.Journal of clinical medicine · 2023Article
- Management of Cervical Spinal Cord Injury without Major Bone Injury in Adults.Journal of clinical medicine · 2023Review
- The Orthotic Effects of Different Functional Electrical Stimulation Protocols on Walking Performance in Individuals with Incomplete Spinal Cord Injury: A Case Series.Topics in spinal cord injury rehabilitation · 2023Article
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 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundRecent pieces of evidence about the efficacy of gait rehabilitation for incomplete spinal cord injury remain unclear. We aimed to estimate the treatment effect and find the best gait rehabilitation to regain velocity, distance, and Walking Index Spinal Cord Injury (WISCI) among incomplete spinal cord injury patients.
methodPubMed and Scopus databases were searched from inception to October 2022. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were included in comparison with any of the following: conventional physical therapy, treadmill, functional electrical stimulation and robotic-assisted gait training, and reported at least one outcome. Two reviewers independently selected the studies and extracted the data. Meta-analysis was performed using random-effects or fixed-effect model according to the heterogeneity. Network meta-analysis (NMA) was indirectly compared with all interventions and reported as pooled unstandardized mean difference (USMD) and 95% confidence interval (CI). Surface under the cumulative ranking curve (SUCRA) was calculated to identify the best intervention.
resultsWe included 17 RCTs (709 participants) with the mean age of 43.9 years. Acute-phase robotic-assisted gait training significantly improved the velocity (USMD 0.1 m/s, 95% CI 0.05, 0.14), distance (USMD 64.75 m, 95% CI 27.24, 102.27), and WISCI (USMD 3.28, 95% CI 0.12, 6.45) compared to conventional physical therapy. In NMA, functional electrical stimulation had the highest probability of being the best intervention for velocity (66.6%, SUCRA 82.1) and distance (39.7%, SUCRA 67.4), followed by treadmill, functional electrical stimulation plus treadmill, robotic-assisted gait training, and conventional physical therapy, respectively.
conclusionFunctional electrical stimulation seems to be the best treatment to improve walking velocity and distance for incomplete spinal cord injury patients. However, a large-scale RCT is required to study the adverse events of these interventions.
trial registrationPROSPERO number CRD42019145797.
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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.