A Fully Immersive Virtual Reality Method for Upper Limb Rehabilitation in Spinal Cord Injury

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether a fully immersive virtual reality (VR) intervention combined with conventional rehabilitation (CR) can improve upper limb function more than CR alone in patients with spinal cord injury (SCI), we conducted a prospective, randomized, controlled clinical trial. METHODS: Participants were randomly assigned to either the control group (CG; n=10) or experimental group (EG; n=10). The participants in the CG received 60 minutes of conventional therapy per day, 4 days per week for 4 weeks, whereas those in the EG received 30 minutes of VR training and 30 minutes of conventional therapy per day, 4 days per week for 4 weeks. The clinical outcome measures included Medical Research Council grade, the American Spinal Injury Association upper extremity motor score (ASIA-UEMS), and scores in the Hand Strength Test, Box and Block Test, Nine-Hole Peg Test, Action Research Arm Test, and Korean version of the Spinal Cord Independence Measure (K-SCIM). The assessments were performed at the beginning (T0) and end of the intervention (T1). RESULTS: Grip power and K-SCIM score significantly improved in the EG after the intervention. When comparing differences between the groups, elbow extensor, wrist extensor, ASIA-UEMS, grip power, lateral pinch power, and palmar pinch power were all significantly improved. CONCLUSION: VR training of upper limb function after SCI can provide an acceptable adjunctive rehabilitation method without significant adverse effects.