OBJECTIVE: To compare a walking re-education programme with robotic locomotor training plus overground therapy (LKOGT) to conventional overground training (OGT) among individuals with incomplete upper or lower motor neuron (UMN and LMN) injuries having either traumatic or non-traumatic non-progressive aetiology. DESIGN: Randomised open clinical trial with blind evaluation by an independent observer. SETTING: An in-patient spinal cord injury (SCI) rehabilitation centre. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 88 adults within 6 months of SCI onset (group A 44 UMN and group B 44 LMN) were graded on the American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) Impairment Scale as C or D. Each of these groups was then randomly allocated to conditions 1 and 2. INTERVENTION: Condition 1: subgroups A1 and B1 were treated with LKOGT for 60 minutes. Condition 2: subgroups A2 and B2 received 60 minutes of conventional (OGT) 5 days per week for 8 weeks. Subjects with UMN and LMN were randomised into two training groups. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: 10-metre walk test (10MWT) and 6-minute walk test (6WT). SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: Walk Index Test for Spinal Cord Injury II (WISCI II), Lower Extremity Motor Score (LEMS), Functional Independence Measure-Locomotor (FIM-L) RESULTS: Using the LKOGT programme compared to OGT, significant differences were found in the 6WT for groups A1 and B1. LKOGT also provided higher scores than OGT in secondary outcomes such as the LEMS and the FIM-L CONCLUSIONS: Robotic-assisted step training yielded better results in the 6WT and the LEMS in both UMN and LMN patients.

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