Low Oxygen Therapy to Enhance Walking Recovery After SCI.

The purpose of this study is to determine how combining bouts of low oxygen, transcutaneous spinal cord stimulation, and walking training may improve walking function for people with chronic spinal cord injury of different age groups.

The goal of the study is to determine the optimal dosage for different age groups of repeatedly breathing mild bouts of low oxygen for brief periods (termed acute intermittent hypoxia (AIH)) combined with transcutaneous spinal cord stimulation (tSTIM) to improve recovery of walking and strength after spinal cord injury. Preliminary studies have shown that combining AIH and tSTIM with walking training can enhance individuals walking training greater than just AIH or tSTIM. By using low oxygen as a pre-treatment to tSTIM during walking training, functional independence and quality of life may improve. Despite exciting preliminary results supporting the efficacy of AIH and tSTIM to enhance walking recovery after SCI, understanding factors that may enhance or undermine treatment responsiveness is warranted. Factors include establishing the role of age and sex dependency on appropriate dosing (number of sessions) AIH to provide the greatest plasticity-promoting effects on walking recovery for our aging population of persons living with SCI.