Objective: To evaluate the effect of functional magnetic stimulation (FMS) on gastric emptying in able-bodied and spinal cord injury (SCI) subjects.
Design: A prospective, nonrandomized clinical experiment.
Setting: SCI and disorder center in a Veterans Affairs medical facility.
Participants: Five healthy, able-bodied subjects and 4 subjects with SCI.
Intervention: A commercially available magnetic stimulator was used; a round magnetic coil was placed along the T9 spinous process. The intensity of the magnetic stimulation was 60%, with a frequency of 20 Hz, and a burst length of 2 seconds for the gastric emptying protocol. Man Outcome Measures: Rate of gastric emptying and time required to reach gastric emptying half-time (GE(t1/2)) with and without FMS. Data fit into linear regression curve.
Results: Accelerated gastric emptying was achieved in both able-bodied and SCI subjects. The mean +/- standard error of mean of the GE(t1/2) at baseline and with FMS was 36+/-2.9 minutes and 33+/-3.1 minutes, respectively, for able-bodied subjects, and 84+/-11.1 minutes and 59+/-12.7 minutes, respectively, for SCI subjects.
Conclusion: Gastric emptying was enhanced by FMS in able-bodied subjects and was greatly enhanced in SCI subjects. FMS can be a useful noninvasive therapeutic tool to facilitate gastric emptying in humans.
Copyright 2002 by the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine and the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation