Locomotor Training: Can It Help Children With Severe Spinal Cord Injuries to Ambulate?

Participants: Andrea L Behrman, PT, PhD, V Reggie Edgerton, PhD, and Irene R McEwen, PT, PhD, FAPTA. Moderator: Rebecca Craik, PT, PhD, FAPTA.

Files in this Data Supplement:

• Discussion Podcast - Behrman, Edgerton, and McEwen discuss the case of a nonambulatory 4½-year-old boy with a chronic, severe, incomplete cervical spinal cord injury who was deemed permanently wheelchair-dependent. After an intensive, 16-week locomotor training program, the boy was able to ambulate independently using a walker. They discuss the implications of the case for clinical practice in the future.

  “That was the motivating minute for me, because I said ‘What are we doing? How are we doing it? We have to activate flexion.’”

  “The spinal cord can process that sensory information and pretty much knows what to do.”

  “I think it is a wonderful example of neural plasticity and the effects of intense practice.”

  The discussion centers on the following articles:

  Behrman AL, Nair PM, Bowden MG, et al. Locomotor training restores walking in a nonambulatory child with chronic, severe, incomplete cervical spinal cord injury. (2008;88:580-590)

  Invited Commentaries by Edgerton (2008;88:590-591) and McEwen (2008;88:592-594)

  Commentary from the child’s mother

  Running time: 20:36 (9,628 KB)