Benefits of robotic-assisted gait in spinal cord injury: a systematic review

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the quality of current evidence regarding effectiveness of body weightsupported, robot-assisted gait in subjects with spinal cord injury, with emphasis on gait performance. Method: A survey was conducted in PubMed, LILACS and EMBASE using the keywords “spinal cord injury” AND (gait OR walking OR deambulation) reahbilitation AND robotic AND (Lokomat OR ReoAmbulator OR Formador Gait). Clinical trials published between 2001-2012 which compared locomotor training with or without other intervention were included. Results: From the 8 selected studies, only one did not findimprovement in gait performance. From the studies which found improvement, 6 found statistically significant improvement and one found no significant difference, although a tendency to improvement was noticed. The findings of these studies were obtained through assessment tools like the six-minute and the ten-meter walk tests, FIM (Functional Independence Measure, WISCI II (Walking Index for Spinal Cord Injury), among others. Some studies pointed to a decrease in the need for orthotics and assistive devices in this group. Regarding methodological quality, 6 articles presented scores lower than 3 points and only one article got the maximum score 5 in JADAD scale (low quality less than 3). Implication/Impact on rehabilitation. Conclusion: In spite of the small quantity of articles found, of the low methodological quality noted and the fact that this is a costly and new modality of intervention, the results are significant when compared to conventional physical therapy and to other well-established techniques in physical therapy.