276: Clinical Use Of Spinal Stimulation For Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation With Rose Tilton, OTR/L, OTD

If you’re anything like us you always want to do everything possible to help your neuro patients recover and improve as much as possible. On today’s show host Erin Gallardo, PT, DPT, NCS interviews Rose Tilton, OTR/L, OTD about an intervention that she took straight from the research to the clinic: spinal cord stimulation with transcutaneous stimulation. After learning about its applicability in the literature Rose was eager to use it with her patients but hit some road blocks. Finally she was in touch with the authors of a study who helped her and her colleagues become trained in using transcutaneous spinal stimulation on people with spinal cord injury. The clinicians found the intervention was not only simple to do but also very effective for maximizing outcomes in upper extremity rehab, lower extremity rehab, trunk control for balance, bowel and bladder and even sexual function. In today’s episode Rose breaks down exactly what you need to know in order to start using this intervention with your patients today using equipment you already have!  

Gain clinical insights that will spark your curiosity to learn more in this episode. While you’ll learn exactly what to do, best practice dictates that you do additional research to ensure you have competency and clearance from your clinical state practice act to perform this intervention. Rose encourages therapists to stay curious, reach out to researchers, and be proactive in exploring new interventions that could transform patient outcomes.

Link to article discussed on the episode: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36188824/