Marsolais et al. 2000 USA Post-test Level 4
N=6 | Population: 6 participants; age 22-50 yrs; all participants had a SCI; C7-T12 lesion level; 2.5-20.6 yrs post-injury. Treatment: Case-Western Reserve University Hybrid Gait Orthosis (modification of IRGO) combined with FES to various muscles (combination of 8-16 muscles). Outcome measures: walking speed and distance. | 1. Participants who were unable to use RGO alone could ambulate with hybrid system. 3 participants who were previously ambulatory with either RGO or FES alone showed improvement in walking distance with the hybrid system (from 3-90 m to 200-350 m). 2. Two of the participants were capable of stair-climbing with the hybrid system. |
Solomonow et al. 1997 USA Post-test Level 4 N=70 | Population: 70 participants; age 16-50 yrs; all participants had a SCI; C6-T12 lesion level; 1-10 yrs post-injury Treatment: RGO use and gait training 1-3 hr, 3x/wk, 6 wks followed by RGO+FES (bilateral quadriceps and hamstrings) for another 6 wks. Outcome measures: Walking ability, 180 m walk. | 1. After training, 57 patients could walk at least 180 m (19 could walk > 450 m). 77% of patients could walk independently on different surfaces (grass, ramps, curbs). |
Sykes et al. 1996a UK Post-test Level 4
N=5 | Population: 5 participants; age 24-37 yrs; all participants had a diagnosis of AIS A-C; C2 -T6 lesion level; 8-14 yrs post-injury. Treatment: RGO and FES: 20-40 weeks of RGO use at home followed by RGO+FES bilaterally to quadriceps and hamstrings. Outcome measures: RGO pedometer measured number of steps over 18 months. | 1. Number of steps taken per week varied between 306 and 1879 steps (99-845 m/week). 2. Use of the RGO was low and no increase in use or function after hybrid system supplied. 3. One participant (AIS C) was already a community ambulator and showed most frequent use of RGO but across all participants, RGO-use was variable, intermittent and generally poor. |
Sykes et al. 1996b UK Post-test Level 4 N=5 | Population: 5 participants; age 24-37 yrs; all participants had a diagnosis of AIS A-C; C2-T6 lesion level. Treatment: Following conditioning program, RGO+FES bilaterally to quadriceps and hamstrings for home use. Outcome measures: Walking speed over 40 m. | 1. Without FES, participants’ walking speeds ranged from 0.13 to 0.40 m/s. With RGO+FES, speeds ranged from 0.14 to 0.45 m/s, corresponding to changes ranging from -1% to 14%. |
Yang et al. 1996 UK Post-test Level 4
N=3 | Population: 3 participants; age 28-42 yrs; participants had a complete or incomplete SCI; C6 -T8 lesion level; 3-15 yrs post-injury. Treatment: RGO ± FES. RGO with and without FES to common peroneal nerve stimulation. Outcome measures: walking speed, stride length. | 1. RGO + FES: Modest (non-significant) increase in walking speed and stride length compared with RGO without FES. 2. When participants walked with the RGO+FES, average walking speed was 13% faster and stride length was 5% longer. |
Thoumie et al. 1995 France Post-test Level 4
N=26 | Population: 26 participants; age 20-53 yrs; all participants had a complete SCI; C8-T11 lesion level; 9-144 months post-injury Treatment: RGO-II orthosis: long-leg brace with reciprocal hip joint combined with FES to the quadriceps and hamstrings. 4-6 weeks of gait training with orthosis alone followed by RGO-II+FES (hybrid) program (total program time: 2-5 months inpatients, 3-14 months outpatients). Outcome measures: walking distance and speed with RGO and with RGO+FES. | 1. 21/26 completed the training program, 19 were able to stand up alone. Following program, walking distance ranged from 200-1400 m with hybrid orthosis, 150-400 m with RGO II. 2. Maximal walking speed with the hybrid orthosis (mean (SD) 0.32 (0.02) m/s; range 0.21-0.45 m/s) was not significantly different from that with orthosis alone (mean (SD) 0.29 (0.03) m/s; range 0.22-0.41 m/s) |