The short-term spinal cord stimulation improves the rates of tracheal decannulation in patients of brain injury with disorders of consciousness.
Guanlin Huang, Dong Wang, Qiang Chen, Qi Zhong, Weilong Huang, Xiaoping Zhou, Qiuhua Jiang
BMC neuroscience May 26, 2025 Peer reviewed DOI: 10.1186/s12868-025-00951-x via PubMed
Summary
Breakthrough treatment helps brain injury patients breathe independently again. Short-term spinal cord stimulation has doubled success rates for removing breathing tubes in patients with disorders of consciousness. In a study of 81 patients who needed tracheotomy after brain injury, those receiving stimulation therapy had a 50% chance of breathing tube removal, compared to 26% with standard care alone.
Abstract
To evaluate the efficacy of short-term spinal cord stimulation (stSCS) in promoting tracheal decannulation among patients with brain injury-induced disorders of consciousness(DoC). A retrospective cohort study was conducted on 81 tracheotomized brain injury patients with DoC treated at Ganzhou People's Hospital between June 2021 and June 2022.Patients were divided into two groups: the stSCS group (n = 46) receiving stSCS intervention and the control group (n = 35) receiving standard care. Decannulation success rates were compared using chi-square tests. The stSCS group demonstrated a significantly higher decannulation rate compared to the control group (50.0%vs.25.7%, χ²=5.24, p = 0.022). stSCS significantly enhances tracheal decannulation success in brain injury patients with DoC, suggesting its potential as a therapeutic neuromodulation strategy. Not applicable.