Abstract
Objective
To evaluate the effect of quadriceps functional electrical stimulation (FES)-cycling
on exertional oxygen uptake (o2) compared with placebo FES-cycling in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary
disease (COPD).
Design
A randomized, single-blind, placebo-controlled crossover trial.
Setting
Pulmonary rehabilitation department.
Participants
Consecutive patients (N=23) with COPD Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung
Disease stage 2, 3, or 4 (mean forced expiratory volume during the first second, 1.4±0.4L
[50.3% predicted]) who had recently begun a respiratory rehabilitation program.
Intervention
Two consecutive 30-minute sessions were carried out at a constant load with active
and placebo FES-cycling.
Main Outcome Measures
The primary outcome was mean o2 during the 30-minute exercise session. The secondary outcomes were respiratory gas
exchange and hemodynamic parameters averaged over the 30-minute endurance session.
Lactate values, dyspnea, and perceived muscle fatigue were evaluated at the end of
the sessions.
Results
FES-cycling increased the physiological response more than the placebo, with a greater
o2 achieved of 36.6mL/min (95% confidence interval [CI], 8.9–64.3mL/min) (P=.01). There was also a greater increase in lactate after FES-cycling (+1.5mmol/L
[95% CI, .05–2.9mmol/L]; P=.01). FES-cycling did not change dyspnea or muscle fatigue compared with the placebo
condition.
Conclusions
FES-cycling effectively increased exercise intensity in patients with COPD. Further
studies should evaluate longer-term FES-cycling rehabilitation programs.
Keywords
List of abbreviations:
CI (confidence interval), COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), FES (functional electrical stimulation), TENS (transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation), V˙co2 (carbon dioxide production), V˙e (minute ventilation), V˙o2 (oxygen uptake), Vo2peak (peak oxygen uptake)To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: March 07, 2018
Footnotes
Supported by grants from the ADIR Association. The funder has not had any direct influence on the design of the study, the analysis of data, the data collection, drafting of the manuscript, or the decision to publish.
Clinical Trial Registration No.: NCT02594722 (ClinicalTrials.gov).
Disclosures: none.
Identification
Copyright
© 2018 by the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine
