Multi-system benefits of non-invasive spinal cord stimulation following cervical spinal cord injury: a case study
Cervical spinal cord injury (SCI) impairs sensorimotor and autonomic functions. We investigated the effects of lumbosacral transcutaneous spinal cord stimulation (tSCS) on urinary bladder, bowel, and sexual function as well as cardiovascular and sensorimotor functions in one individual with chronic clinically motor-complete cervical SCI, 11 years post-injury. Following 30 sessions of lumbosacral tSCS, the individual presented with improved urinary bladder compliance as well as anorectal function in parallel with mitigation of the severity of autonomic dysreflexia during filling cystometry and anorectal manometry. In addition, long-term tSCS improved erectile function and sexual satisfaction. Furthermore, after long-term tSCS, concurrent tSCS enabled voluntary leg movement. This case study demonstrated the multi-system benefits of lumbosacral tSCS, which holds promise for evolving into a clinically viable therapy for restoring both autonomic and motor functions following SCI.
Authors
- Klaus Krogh (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9168-2403)
- Alison M. M. Williams (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2594-4927)
- Tom E. Nightingale (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2947-4931)
- Tania Lam (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5782-2537)
- Rahul Sachdeva (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7972-9344)
- Raza N. Malik (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5816-162X)
- Andrei V. Krassioukov (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0022-7972)
- Claire Shackleton (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3111-8055)
- Amandeep Ghuman (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9871-9061)
- Matthias Walter (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5347-1584)
- Stacy Elliott (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5371-2456)
- Michael Berger
- Soshi Samejima (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3796-8085)
- Lucas Rempel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8876-3496)
- Ali Hosseinzadeh (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9939-0525)
- Anh-Duong Phan
Institutions
- Vancouver Coastal Health (CA)
- University of British Columbia (CA)
- University of Kentucky (US)
- University of Basel (CH)
- St. Paul's Hospital (CA)
- Aarhus University Hospital (DK)
- GF Strong Rehabilitation Centre (CA)
- International Collaboration On Repair Discoveries (CA)
- University of Birmingham (GB)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Bioelectronic Medicine
- Published
- 2025-09-04
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1186/s42234-025-00183-8
- Citations
- 5
- Primary Topic
- Spinal Cord Injury Research
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 7.36
Funders
- International Collaboration on Repair Discoveries