WBV ON THE UPPER LIMB PERFORMANCE IN COMPLETE SPINAL CORD INJURY

Background: individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI) need upper limbs during activities of daily living that include transferring and propelling a wheelchair. A single session of Whole-body Vibration (WBV) has shown positive impact on musculoskeletal performance. Objective: To investigate the effects of one single session of WBV over the upper limb function in complete SCI during the execution of functional tasks. Design: Individuals with SCI have performed three functional tasks: a timed push up test, grip strength and throw ball test before and after a session of WBV. Participants: 15 individuals with complete SCI were recruited for this study. Interventions: WBV was composed of one single session, five series of thirty seconds vibration with one-minute rest between. The push up test consisted of attempting a maximum number of repetitions during a fifteen second work period followed by a forty-five second rest period. Grip strength was assessed using a handheld dynamometer. Throw ball test consisted on launching a 2Kg medicine ball as afar as possible. Results: WBV statistically improved performance in all three functional tasks. Conclusions: one single session of WBV can improve upper limb performance in complete SCI