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Abstract

Background and Objective: Intensive care unit-acquired weakness (ICU-AW) is a condition associated with prolonged ICU stays, mechanical ventilation, and increased mortality. Early rehabilitation strategies using neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) showed improvement in muscle strength and functional outcomes. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of NMES on the Functional Status Score for the Intensive Care Unit (FSS-ICU) in patients with ICU-AW.
Methodology: This study was conducted from December 2023 to June 2024, in the ICU of the Faculty of Medicine, Airlangga University, Surabaya, Indonesia. The study used a one-group pretest-posttest design. Twenty patients were enrolled, who had been mechanically ventilated for over 24 hours and stayed in the ICU for more than 48 hours. Seven patients were dropped. Baseline functional assessments, including the Medical Research Council Sum Score (MRC-SS) for muscle strength and the FSS-ICU, were conducted before intervention. NMES was applied to the quadriceps femoris muscles, bilaterally, for 30 minutes daily over five consecutive days. After five days, the patients were assessed with FSS-ICU Day before and after therapy.
Results: Twenty patients were enrolled, and 13 of them completed the study. Following the administration of NMES for five consecutive days, patients exhibited notable improvements in functional activity, and there was a statistically significant difference in FSS-ICU scores (P < 0.001).
Conclusion: Five days of NMES therapy notably enhanced the functional status of ICU-AW in the effected patients, as demonstrated by higher C scores. These results highlight NMES as a potentially effective treatment for ICU-AW, although additional studies are needed to validate its wider application.
Abbreviations: FSS-ICU: Functional Status Score for the Intensive Care Unit, ICU: Intensive care unit, ICU-AW: Intensive care unit-acquired weakness, MRC: Medical Research Council, MRC-SSN: Medical Research Council Sum Score, NMES: neuromuscular electrical stimulation, SOFA: Sequential Organ Failure Assessment
Keywords: Critical Illness; Electrical Stimulation; Functional Status; Intensive Care Unit
Citation: Hutapea JDIU, Arfianti L, Al Hayyan AJ, Semedi BP. Functional outcomes of early neuromuscular electrical stimulation for ICU-acquired weakness: a pilot study. Anaesth. pain intensive care 2025;29(6):492-96. DOI: 10.35975/apic.v29i6.2785
Received: May 09, 2024; Revised: October 26, 2024; Accepted: January 01, 2025