Electrical Muscle Stimulation (EMS) Preserve Muscle Strength in Critically ill Patients- A Pilot Study

Introduction: Weakness that is acquired during hospitalization for critical illness is increasingly recognized as common and important clinical problem. Weakness acquired in the intensive care unit (ICU) and related acquired neuromuscular dysfunction occur in a large percentage of critically ill patients and are associated with increased morbidity and mortality.

Objective: This study was designed to investigate the effects of electrical muscle stimulation (EMS) on strength of muscle groups stimulated in critically ill patients.

Method: 134 subjects were recruited among the patient admitted in multidisciplinary intensive care units and randomly divided in to control and EMS group. Patients unable to understand or speak English and or Hindi due to language barrier or cognitive impairment prior to admission, unable to independently transfer from bed to chair at baseline prior to hospital admission, Patient with known history of primary systemic neuromuscular disease, vascular events, organ transplant, intracranial process that is associated with localizing weakness, transferred from another ICU after >2 consecutive days of mechanical ventilation, amputation of lower extremities were excluded from study.

Results: EMS group patients achieved higher MRC scores than controls in knee extensors (left ≤ 0.018), (right P ≤ 0.038) and ankle dorsiflexors (left ≤ 0.04), (right P ? 0.05)

Conclusions: EMS has beneficial effects on the strength of critically ill patients mainly affecting muscle groups stimulated, it can be considered as a potential effective means of muscle strength preservation and early mobilization in this patient population.