The influence of walking in an exoskeleton on rehabilitation of patients with spinal cord injury consequences

Objective: to substantiate the expediency of including training walking in an exoskeleton in the complex rehabilitation of patients with severe motor dysfunctions of the lower limbs due to spinal cord injury (SCI).Methods: 120 patients (84 men and 36 women, age 37.1 ± 8.40 years) with the consequences of SCI at the level of thoracic and lumbar spine who were in the hospital at the second stage of medical rehabilitation were examined. The duration of injury ranged from 1 year to 19 years (77.8 ± 4.05 months). All patients were divided into two groups (80 and 40 patients), comparable by sex, age, duration and severity of injury. Training walking in exoskeleton have been added in the group I rehabilitation program. ASIA, SCIM III scales and SF-36 quality of life questionnaire were used to evaluate the effectiveness of the rehabilitation measures.Results: there was an increase in the total score on SCIM III by 3.20 ± 0.50 (p = 0.05) in group I, which indicates an increase in the level of functioning and daily activity of patients. Positive dynamics was revealed when assessing the quality of life using SF-36 questionnaire: sum index reflecting the psychological component of health increased from 56,0 to 59,5 points (p = 0,05). Group II also showed positive dynamics of the analyzed indicators, but the changes by the end of the rehabilitation course were not statistically significant.Conclusion: the use of exoskeleton training walking at the second stage of medical rehabilitation increases the effectiveness of rehabilitation measures and improves the quality of life of patients with severe motor dysfunctions of the lower limbs due to spinal cord injury (SCI).