Spinal Cord Stimulation for Autonomic Recovery in Inpatient Rehabilitation After Acute SCI

Non-invasive electrical stimulation of the spinal cord over the skin. A portable tSCS device, SCONE or TESCoN (SpineX Inc., USA), whichever available, will be used to deliver 1ms pulses with 10kHz carrier frequency at 30 Hz, which has demonstrated autonomic recovery in our previous studies. The location of tSCS is predetermined (at T10 and T11 vertebral levels). The stimulation intensity will range from 10 to 200 mA and specific criteria will be followed to determine the optimal therapeutic stimulation.

Non-invasive electrical stimulation of a lower extremity muscle group over the skin. A portable tSCS device, SCONE or TESCoN (SpineX Inc., USA), whichever available, will be used to deliver sham stimulation. The intensity of electrical stimulation will be briefly ramped up to a level at which the participants report perceiving the stimulation (i.e., sensory threshold), then ramped down and turned off for the remainder of the intervention.