AUTHOR=Nascimento Tais Nunes , Boffino Catarina Costa 

TITLE=Case Report: Galvanic Vestibular Stimulation in the Chronic Spinal Cord Injury Patient

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Rehabilitation Sciences

VOLUME=Volume 3 - 2022

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/rehabilitation-sciences/articles/10.3389/fresc.2022.779846

DOI=10.3389/fresc.2022.779846

ISSN=2673-6861

ABSTRACT=The traumatic spinal cord injury can generate sequels with high clinical severity and dysfunction and limitations of irreversible character. Current studies seek to reverse the sequelae and gain functionality in these individuals. Galvanic vestibular stimulation has shown to be beneficial in spinal cord function as an evaluation correlated to functionality, and for stimulation with physiological and functional characteristics in disease and healthy people. The present study observed the effects of Galvanic Vestibular Stimulation in a patient with chronic spinal cord injury on postural control and trunk control. The evaluations were the Functional Independence Measure, the American Spinal Injury Association evaluation, and the Clinical Posturography in the sitting position through Sensory Organization and Functional Reach Tests. Ten sessions of Galvanic Vestibular Stimulation associated with customized vestibular and neurofunctional rehabilitation were performed. The effects observed were increments in all assessments and tests. The phenomenon of stochastic resonance has shown benefits in postural control in people without vestibular lesions and we could observe some of these phenomena in our patient.  We emphasize the need for evaluation with larger populations to observe the phenomena and effects in this group of patients and potential benefits and limitations.