Functional magnetic stimulation facilitates gastric emptying

Lin VW-H, Kim KH, Hsiao I, Brown W. Functional magnetic stimulation facilitates gastric emptying. Arch Phys Med Rehabil 2002;83:806-10. Objective: To evaluate the effect of functional magnetic stimulation (FMS) on gastric emptying in able-bodied and spinal cord injury (SCI) subjects. Design: A prospective, nonrandomized clinical experiment. Setting: SCI and disorder center in a Veterans Affairs medical facility. Participants: Five healthy, able-bodied subjects and 4 subjects with SCI. Intervention: A commercially available magnetic stimulator was used; a round magnetic coil was placed along the T9 spinous process. The intensity of the magnetic stimulation was 60%, with a frequency of 20Hz, and a burst length of 2 seconds for the gastric emptying protocol. Man Outcome Measures: Rate of gastric emptying and time required to reach gastric emptying half-time (GEt1/2) with and without FMS. Data fit into linear regression curve. Results: Accelerated gastric emptying was achieved in both able-bodied and SCI subjects. The mean ± standard error of mean of the GEt1/2 at baseline and with FMS was 36±2.9 minutes and 33±3.1 minutes, respectively, for able-bodied subjects, and 84±11.1 minutes and 59±12.7 minutes, respectively, for SCI subjects. Conclusion: Gastric emptying was enhanced by FMS in able-bodied subjects and was greatly enhanced in SCI subjects. FMS can be a useful noninvasive therapeutic tool to facilitate gastric emptying in humans. © 2002 by the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine and the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation