Inducing peripheral sympathetic nerve activity by therapeutic electrical stimulation.

PURPOSE To examine whether the activity of peripheral sympathetic nerves in animals with spinal cord injury can be controlled using therapeutic electrical stimulation. METHODS The spinal cords of 6 Wistar rats were severed at T12/T13 disk level and were given continuous therapeutic electrical stimulation. Microneurography was used to record sympathetic nerve activity at 24, 48, and 72 hours after severing the spinal cord. RESULTS Integrated values of muscle sympathetic nerve activity after 72 hours of therapeutic electrical stimulation revealed significantly larger potentials on the stimulated side than the non-stimulated side. Skin sympathetic nerve activity showed no difference between the 2 sides. CONCLUSION Therapeutic electrical stimulation was found to have a facilitatory effect on the muscle sympathetic nerve activity, whereas regulatory function was activated by the sympathetic nerves.