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Final Program


Final Congress Guide

Clinical Sciences/Health Conditions

300 Section - Transcutaneous Spinal Cord Stimulation with Arm-Crank Exercise for Bowel Function following Spinal Cord Injury

Tuesday, May 19, 2026
6:00 PM - 7:30 PM PT

    Presenting Author/Autor expositor(s)

  • SN

    Sarah Nasson, BS

    Research Assistant
    University of Washington
    Seattle, Washington, United States

    • Co-Author/Coautor(s)

  • RN

    Ryo Nakahara, PhD

    Postdoctoral Fellow
    University of Washington
    Seattle, Washington, United States

  • EB

    Ellie Bieler, BS

    Research Assistant
    University of Washington
    Seattle, Washington, United States

    • Corresponding Author/Autor a quien dirigir la corr(s)

  • SS

    Soshi Samejima, PhD

    assistant professor
    University of Washington
    Seattle, Washington, United States

Objectives : Ninety percent of people with spinal cord injury (SCI) experience bowel dysfunction, which impacts quality of life and social participation. Although it is one of the highest priorities for recovery, current interventions are limited. Emerging evidence suggests that non-invasive spinal cord stimulation can promote autonomic recovery. This study aimed to elucidate the effect of transcutaneous spinal cord stimulation (tSCS) paired with exercise on bowel function after SCI.

Design: Participants included adults with motor-complete SCI at or above T6 spinal segment. Consented participants were randomized to the sham or intervention group. Participants received tSCS at T9 and T10 vertebral levels or sham stimulation during 30-minute arm crank exercise. We evaluated bowel function using time needed for bowel management and neurogenic bowel dysfunction (NBDS) score. Additionally, we conducted semi-structured interviews to extract the real-life impact of physiological changes.

Results: Seven males and two females aged 25 - 54 years with chronic (7.44 ± 4.36 years post-injury) motor-complete SCI received 24 intervention sessions. Between sham (n = 4) and intervention (n=5) groups, results showed no difference in the NBDS. Notably, the tSCS group presented a greater reduction in bowel management time (-6.667, 95% CI [-28.334, -2]) compared to the sham condition (0.833, 95% CI [-38.667, 7.667]). Semi-structured interviews revealed reduced severity of bloating and flatulence.

Conclusion: The p<a>reliminary results suggest the potential of tSCS paired with exercise to reduce the time needed for bowel management as well as the severity of some gastrointestinal symptoms in individuals with chronic SCI. We continue to conduct further study to increase sample size and aim to include objective outcomes such as colonic transit time or anorectal manometry to address the current limitation of using self-reported measures.