ArticleProgress in rehabilitation medicine2025
Effect of Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation on Muscle Atrophy in Patients with Acute Stroke: A Randomized Controlled Trial.
Article in Progress in rehabilitation medicine, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
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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
1 citing paper in PubMed.
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Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Objectives: This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) in reducing muscle atrophy in patients with acute stroke. Methods: In acute stroke patients with hemiparesis, NMES or control treatment was applied to the quadriceps muscles for 2 weeks. The change of the quadriceps muscle thickness was assessed using ultrasound after 2 weeks. Results: Sixty-three patients were randomized to control treatment or NMES treatment. On the paretic side, muscle thickness changed by -2.65 ± 4.24 mm in the NMES group and -4.64 ± 4.58 mm in the control group (P=0.119). On the non-paretic side, the respective changes were -0.42 ± 5.19 mm and -1.93 ± 3.36 mm (P=0.223). In an exploratory subgroup analysis, no significant effect was observed in severely affected patients, whereas patients with mild-to-moderate stroke (National Institute of Health Stroke Scale score <12, n=23) showed a smaller reduction in quadriceps thickness on the paretic side in the NMES group compared with controls (0.00 ± 3.21 mm vs. -3.88 ± 5.11 mm, P=0.043). These exploratory subgroup findings should be regarded as hypothesis-generating. Conclusions: This underpowered trial did not demonstrate a significant preventive effect of 2 weeks of NMES on quadriceps atrophy in patients with acute stroke. Exploratory subgroup findings suggest a potential benefit in patients with less severe stroke, but these results should be considered hypothesis-generating and require confirmation in future adequately powered trials.
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