New studies indicate that stimulating the lumbosacral vertebrae area significantly improved low blood pressure, in contrast to stimulation of the cervical or upper thoracic regions.
Researchers at the Kessler Foundation have released new insights on neuromodulation for people with high-level spinal cord injuries (SCI) through spinal cord transcutaneous stimulation (scTS). This innovative method aims to improve cardiovascular regulation and tackle the issues of fluctuating blood pressure, which can lead to hypotensive and hypertensive episodes following SCI.
The results showed that for individuals experiencing low blood pressure after a SCI, scTS targeting the lumbosacral vertebrae region was effective in significantly raising blood pressure, unlike stimulation at cervical or upper thoracic sites. This pattern was consistently observed across eight participants in the case series, emphasizing the potential of scTS as a non-invasive therapy for managing cardiovascular functioning in SCI patients.
The research article, titled “Neuromodulation in Spinal Cord Injury Using Transcutaneous Spinal Stimulation — Mapping for a Blood Pressure Response: A Case Series,” was published as open access on September 20, 2024, in Neurotrauma Reports.
Authors from Kessler Foundation included Einat Engel-Haber, MD, Akhil Bheemreddy, Mehmed B. Bayram, PhD, Manikandan Ravi, Fan Zhang, PhD, Steven Kirshblum, MD, and Gail F. Forrest, PhD, along with Haiyan Su, PhD from the School of Computing at Montclair State University.
While scTS offers the advantage of flexible stimulation locations compared to the more traditional epidural stimulation method, it also results in notable variability and lack of standardization in the stimulation sites used across different studies. “For patients with high thoracic or cervical SCI, fluctuations in blood pressure can hinder daily activities and result in both short- and long-term health issues. Selecting the most effective stimulation sites is crucial for improving cardiovascular control in these individuals,” stated lead author Dr. Einat Engel-Haber, an associate research scientist at the Tim and Caroline Reynolds Center for Spinal Stimulation, which supported this research.
“This research underscores the potential to create new therapeutic strategies to combat cardiovascular instability in individuals with SCI, which is a prevalent challenge for this group,” she noted. “These findings pave the way for additional research into how scTS can enhance the quality of life for those with spinal cord injuries and provide crucial insights for healthcare professionals and researchers looking to design personalized stimulation plans aimed at improving cardiovascular health for SCI individuals,” Dr. Engel-Haber concluded.
