Effectiveness of Electrical Muscle Stimulation on Regaining Muscle Strength Post-Operation

Electrical Stimulation (ES) is a form of electrotherapy in which currents are used for a variety of reasons including pain modulation, aiding in tissue healing, controlling edema, and assisting in generating a muscle contraction. ES can assist in generating a muscle contraction by producing an electric current. The ES unit delivers a current to the neuromuscular unit. When the current is large enough to reach threshold, an action potential will be sent down the axon to where it synapses with the muscle fiber. This action potential will cause the muscle fiber to contract. After an operation, a common impairment among patients is muscle weakness and atrophy. By using ES, clinicians may accelerate the process of regaining strength after an operation. This project is a review of research regarding the efficacy of ES on regaining muscular strength after an operation. If efficacy is found in the research, the parameters regarding the application of the ES will be further investigated. If efficacy is not found in the research, the parameters of the application will again be investigated to determine if the application was the reason why the modality was not effective