THERE is hope for people with paralysis from spinal cord injuries with a new treatment allowing patients to walk and regain voluntary leg movement.

Three patients with spinal cord injuries were able to walk again after a program of epidural electrical stimulation (EES) applied to the spinal cord, according to a report published in the journal Nature.

Swiss researchers administered EES to three male patients who suffered a spinal cord injury at least four years ago that resulted in partial or complete paralysis in their lower limbs.

The treatment was administered with a pulse generator, controlled wirelessly.

Within a few days of starting treatment, according to the report, patients progressed from stepping on a treadmill to supported walking on the ground, while receiving EES.

Eventually, patients could walk for up to one hour on the treadmill with EES.

After rehabilitation the patients could walk, either partially supported or with a walker, with EES and they regained voluntary leg movements without EES.

The EES treatment itself is not new but previous demonstrations showed it is less effective in humans than when tested on other animals, such as rats.

In this program, the Swiss researchers used stimulation in bursts, rather than continuously, which they believe contributed to better results for patients.

Professor Bryce Vissel, the director of neuroscience at University of Technology Sydney, said: “The future for individuals with spinal cord injury is now, in many cases, likely to be very bright.

This new technology...is bringing unprecedented recovery of function from spinal cord injury previously thought incurable.
Professor Robert Kapsa, head of neuroscience research at the University of Melbourne, said the therapy looked promising but warned it was not a cure.

“It is important to note that all spinal cord injuries are different and it is highly likely that not all injuries will respond with equal levels of success,” he said.

“Likewise, it is highly likely that, whilst this approach is relevant to fresh injuries, it may be less effective in existing established injuries that have been stabilised long term.

“Nevertheless, this work presents a significant step towards establishing a viable approach towards restored function in at least a proportion of people with spinal cord injuries who would otherwise face long-term confinement in a wheelchair.”

A young man paralysed from the waist down after a snowmobile accident has made medical history by walking independently following pioneering surgery. Doctors in the US used an electrode implanted below the injury site to stimulate surviving nerve...
Press Association