Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation Improves Muscle Strength, Biomechanics of Movement, and Functional Mobility in Children With Chronic Neurological Disorders: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Children with chronic neurological conditions like cerebral palsy often lose muscle strength and mobility over time, partly because their disorders make typical exercise programs hard to deliver or tolerate. This systematic review and meta-analysis looked at whether neuromuscular electrical stimulation, which uses electrical currents to activate muscles, could help preserve or improve movement in these children. Pooling data from 18 studies covering 595 children aged 3 to 14, the researchers found a statistically significant improvement in a standard measure of gross motor function associated with electrical stimulation use. Studies in children with cerebral palsy, spinal muscular atrophy, and obstetric brachial plexus injury suggested benefits for muscle strength, movement biomechanics, and functional mobility.

The main caveat is that only half of the included studies had a low risk of bias, meaning the overall evidence base is still a mixed-quality collection of smaller studies rather than a large, uniformly rigorous one.

If your child lives with a chronic neurological condition such as cerebral palsy, you may already know how hard it can be to keep up strength and movement when typical exercise is difficult. This review looked at neuromuscular electrical stimulation, a technique that uses electrical currents to make muscles contract, as a possible way to help. Looking across 18 studies involving 595 children aged 3 to 14, the researchers found that children who used electrical stimulation showed a statistically significant improvement, on average, in a standard measure of everyday movement skills.

Studies also pointed to gains in muscle strength and the way children moved. It's encouraging, but the evidence isn't rock solid: only half of the studies reviewed were judged to have a low risk of bias, so some results may be influenced by how the studies were designed. This doesn't tell us how any individual child would respond, and it isn't guidance on what treatment to pursue.

This is a summary of research, not medical advice. Talk to your own healthcare provider about anything affecting your care.

This review addresses whether neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) can support strength, movement quality, and functional mobility in children with chronic neurological disorders who often struggle to tolerate conventional exercise dosing. Pooling data from 18 studies (595 participants aged 3 to 14 years, conditions including cerebral palsy, spinal muscular atrophy, and obstetric brachial plexus injury), the meta-analysis found a statistically significant pooled effect on gross motor functional measure (standardized mean difference 0.41, 95% CI 0.19 to 0.64).

The abstract does not specify the designs of individual included studies. For clinicians, this informs the plausibility of NMES as an adjunct tool for addressing musculoskeletal decline in these populations, though the review does not establish optimal parameters, delivery context, or how it compares directly to standard therapy. The main limitation to weigh is that only 50% of included studies showed low risk of bias, meaning the pooled estimate rests on a body of evidence of mixed methodological rigor rather than a uniformly high-quality one.