Efficacy of combined repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation and occupational therapy in spinal cord injury patients: a randomized controlled clinical study.
Duk Youn Cho, Hye-Jin Lee, Jung Eun Lim et al.
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In 30 seconds
This randomized controlled trial evaluated whether repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) added to occupational therapy (OT) improved upper-limb function in patients with cervical spinal cord injury. Twenty-nine patients were assigned to OT plus rTMS or OT plus sham rTMS, delivered three times weekly for five weeks. The rTMS group showed greater improvements in strength, sensation, perception, and Korean Spinal Cord Independence Measure III results than the control group. Pain, spasticity, and depression scores increased in both groups; shoulder pain increased significantly in the control group, and depression scores increased significantly in both.
Key findings
- The trial randomly assigned 14 patients to OT plus rTMS and 15 to OT plus sham rTMS.
- The rTMS group had greater improvements in strength, sensation, perception, and KSCIM-III results than the control group.
- Shoulder pain increased significantly in the control group, while depression scores increased significantly in both groups.
Why it matters
Upper-limb function and independence are important rehabilitation outcomes after cervical spinal cord injury. The findings suggest that adding rTMS to OT may improve these outcomes compared with OT and sham stimulation, while also highlighting worsening symptom scores during the study. The results provide a basis for further evaluation of this combined approach, rather than establishing its effectiveness for routine care.
What to keep in mind
The trial included 29 patients at a single rehabilitation centre, and treatment lasted five weeks; the abstract does not report longer-term outcomes or quantitative effect estimates.