Prevention of pressure-induced deep tissue injury using intermittent electrical stimulation.
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Solis et al, 2007 [pre-clinical; rats] aimed to test the effectiveness of a novel electrical stimulation technique in the prevention of deep tissue injury. Rats in the experimental groups received the application of pressure and simultaneous application of a 10-s stimulus bout (biphasic, charge balanced, constant current, 10–40 mA, 250 μs, 50 pulses/s) to the femoral nerve of the experimental leg every 10 min or every 5 min throughout the duration of pressure application. Rats in the control group received the pressure application but no electrical stimulation. Constant pressure was applied for 2 hours to the quadriceps muscles of rats in the control group generating a DTI that affected 60 ± 15% of the compressed muscle as assessed by magnetic resonance imaging. However, rats that received IES at 10- and 5-min intervals, DTI was limited to 16 ± 16 and 25 ± 13%, respectively. The authors concluded that the results of this study indicate that IES significantly reduces the amount of DTI by increasing the oxygen available to the tissue and by modifying the pressure profiles of the loaded muscles.