| Objective: To invastigate the effects of lower extremity walking robot on activities of daily living (ADL) and walking ability after spinal cord injury. Methods: 40 patients with cervical and thoracic spinal cord injuries were randomly divided into two groups, 20 in each group. The control group did routine therapeutic exercise including muscle strength training, stretching training, balance training, transfer training, standing training, walking and gait training, etc. The observation group were given a walking robot training additionally. Before and 6, 12 weeks after treatment, 6-minute walking distance, Modified Barthel Index (MBI) and Functional Independence Measure (FIM) were used for evaluation, among which walking and up and down stairs items are specifically focused. Results: After 6 and 12 weeks of treatment, the scores of MBI, FIM and the two scales in the walking and up and down stairs items, 6-minute walking distance of the two groups were gradually increased compared with those before treatment (all P<0.05), and the observation group was superior to the control group (all P<0.05). Conclusion: Routine therapeutic exercise combined with walking robot training can significantly improve the walking ability and ADL score of grade C-D spinal cord injury patients. |
