Trial reportBMC musculoskeletal disorders2022
Prevention of muscle atrophy in ICU patients without nerve injury by neuromuscular electrical stimulation: a randomized controlled study.
Trial report in BMC musculoskeletal disorders, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
20 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 35 citations in OpenAlex.
- Korean clinical practice guidelines for rehabilitation in critically ill patients and post-intensive care syndrome.Acute and critical care · 2026Guideline
- Neuromuscular electrical stimulation for early rehabilitation in critically ill patients: a systematic review of applied protocols.Critical care (London, England) · 2026Pooled it
- Reporting of nutritional screening, status, and intake in trials of nutritional and physical rehabilitation following critical illness: a systematic review.The American journal of clinical nutrition · 2025Pooled it
- Acute Sarcopenia: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis on Its Incidence and Muscle Parameter Shifts During Hospitalisation.Journal of cachexia, sarcopenia and muscle · 2025Pooled it
- A controlled randomized trial with a 12-week follow-up investigating the effects of medium-frequency neuromuscular electrical stimulation on pain, VMO thickness, and functionality in patients with knee osteoarthritis.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2024Trial
- Effect of neuromuscular electrical stimulation combined with early rehabilitation therapy on mechanically ventilated patients: a prospective randomized controlled study.BMC pulmonary medicine · 2023Trial
- Korean Clinical Practice Guidelines for Rehabilitation in Critically Ill Patients and Post-Intensive Care Syndrome.Annals of rehabilitation medicine · 2026Article
- Advances in Clinical Management Strategies for Sarcopenia: From Exercise and Nutrition to Pharmacotherapy and Comprehensive Interventions.Molecular neurobiology · 2026Review
- Impact of Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation on Biological Markers in Critically Ill Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Critical care research and practice · 2026Review
- Physical Therapist-Led Therapeutic Exercise and Mobility in Adult Intensive Care Units: A Scoping Review of Operational Definitions, Dose Progression, Safety, and Documentation.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Review
- Atrophy Masseter Recovery by Electrical Stimulation Mediated M2-Like Macrophage Polarisation via JAK/PI3K/AKT Pathway.Journal of cachexia, sarcopenia and muscle · 2025Article
- Article
- The Japanese Clinical Practice Guidelines for Management of Sepsis and Septic Shock 2024.Journal of intensive care · 2025Article
- Systematic review of the effects of neuromuscular electrical stimulation in post-coronavirus disease.The South African journal of physiotherapy · 2025Review
- The Effect of Physiotherapy on Arthrogenic Muscle Inhibition After ACL Injury or Reconstruction: A Systematic Review.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Evaluating Muscle Mass Changes in Critically Ill Patients: Rehabilitation Outcomes Measured by Ultrasound and Bioelectrical Impedance.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- The effect of in-bed cycling combined with high flow nasal cannula treatment on arterial oxygen and respiratory dynamics in patients with severe respiratory failure: A retrospective study.Pakistan journal of medical sciences · 2024Article
- Sequencing technology in sarcopenia: current research progress and future trends.Frontiers in molecular biosciences · 2024Article
- How Might Consideration of Cell Polarity Affect Daily Therapeutic Practices?A Literature Review:.Galen medical journal · 2023Article
- The Japanese Clinical Practice Guidelines for Management of Sepsis and Septic Shock 2024.Acute medicine & surgeryArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundExtensive muscle atrophy is a common occurrence in orthopaedics patients who are bedridden or immobilized. The incidence is higher in intensive care unit (ICU) inpatients. There is still controversy about how to use neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) in ICU patients. We aim to compare the effectiveness and safety of NMES to prevent muscle atrophy in intensive care unit (ICU) patients without nerve injury.
methodsICU patients without central and peripheral nerve injury were randomized into experimental group I (Exp I: active and passive activity training (APAT) + NMES treatment on the gastrocnemius and tibialis anterior muscle), experimental group II (Exp II: APAT + NMES treatment on gastrocnemius alone), and control group (Ctl: APAT alone). Changes in the strength of gastrocnemius, the ankle range of motion, and the muscle cross-section area of the lower leg were evaluated before and after the intervention. Also, changes in prothrombin time, lactic acid, and C-reactive protein were monitored during the treatment.
resultsThe gastrocnemius muscle strength, ankle joint range of motion, and cross-sectional muscle area of the lower leg in the three groups showed a downward trend, indicating that the overall trend of muscle atrophy in ICU patients was irreversible. The decrease in gastrocnemius muscle strength in Exp I and Exp II was smaller than that in the control group (P < 0.05), but there was no difference between Exp I and Exp II. The decrease in active ankle range of motion and cross-sectional area of the lower leg Exp I and Exp II was smaller than that in the control group (P < 0.05), and the decrease in Exp I was smaller than that of Exp II (all P < 0.05). The curative effect in Exp I was better than in Exp II. There were no significant differences in the dynamic changes of prothrombin time, lactic acid, and C-reactive protein during the three groups (P > 0.05).
conclusionIn addition to early exercise training, NMES should be applied to prevent muscle atrophy for patients without nerve injury in ICU. Also, simultaneous NMES treatment on agonist/antagonist muscle can enhance the effect of preventing muscle atrophy.
trial registrationThis study was prospectively registered in China Clinical Trial Registry ( www.chictr.org.cn ) on 16/05/2020 as ChiCTR2000032950.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.