OBJECTIVE: To examine the cardiorespiratory/vascular effects of cycling with and without functional electrical stimulation (FES) in children with spinal cord injury (SCI). DESIGN: Randomized controlled trial. SETTING: Pediatric referral hospital. PARTICIPANTS: Children with SCI (N = 30), ages 5 to 13 years, with injury levels from C4 to T11, and American Spinal Injury Association grades A, B, or C. INTERVENTIONS: Children were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 groups: FES leg cycling exercise, passive leg cycling, or noncycling control group receiving electrical stimulation therapy. After receiving instruction on the use of the equipment, children exercised for 1 hour 3 times per week for 6 months at home with parental supervision. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Oxygen uptake (VO2) during an incremental arm ergometry test, resting heart rate, forced vital capacity, and a fasting lipid profile. RESULTS: There were no differences (p > 0.05) between groups after 6 months of exercise when comparing pre- and postvalues. However, there were differences between groups for some variables when examining percent change. The FES cycling group showed an improvement (p = 0.035) in VO2 (16.2% +/- 25.0%) as compared with the passive cycling group (-28.7% +/- 29.1%). For lipid levels, the electrical stimulation-only group showed declines (p = 0.032) in cholesterol levels (-17.1% +/- 8.5%) as compared with the FES cycling group (4.4% +/- 20.4%). CONCLUSIONS: Cycling with FES led to gains in VO2, whereas electrical stimulation alone led to improvements in cholesterol.

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