We investigated the impact of spinal cord injury (SCI) on cough capacity in 10 children (Mean ± SD, age 8 ± 4 years) and compared it to 15 typically developing children (age 8 ± 3 years). Participants underwent spirometry, single and sequential cough assessment with surface-electromyography from respiratory muscles. Inspiratory phase duration, inspiratory phase peak flow, inspiratory phase rise time, compression phase duration, expiratory phase rise time, expiratory phase peak airflow (EPPF) and cough volume acceleration (CVA) parameters of single and sequential cough were measured. Root mean square (RMS) values of right pectoralis-major, intercostal, rectus-abdominus (RA), and oblique (OB) muscles were calculated and mean of three trials were compared. The significance criterion was set at P < 0.05. The SCI group produced significantly lower lung volumes, EPPF, CVA, and RMS values of RA and OB during expiratory phases of single and sequential coughs. The decrease in activation in expiratory muscles in the SCI group accounts for the impaired expiratory flow and may contribute to risk of respiratory complications.

我们调查了脊髓损伤 (SCI) 对 10 名儿童咳嗽能力的影响（平均值±标准差，8±4 岁），并将其与 15 名正常发育的儿童（8±3 岁）进行比较。参与者通过呼吸肌的表面肌电图进行了肺量测定、单次和连续咳嗽评估。测量了单次和连续咳嗽的吸气阶段持续时间、吸气阶段峰值流量、吸气阶段上升时间、压缩阶段持续时间、呼气阶段上升时间、呼气阶段峰值气流（EPPF）和咳嗽体积加速度（CVA）参数。计算右侧胸大肌、肋间肌、腹直肌 (RA) 和斜肌 (OB) 的均方根 (RMS) 值，并比较三项试验的平均值。显着性标准设置为P< 0.05。SCI 组在单次和连续咳嗽的呼气阶段产生显着较低的肺容量、EPPF、CVA 和 RA 和 OB 的 RMS 值。SCI 组呼气肌激活的减少是呼气流量受损的原因，并可能导致呼吸系统并发症的风险。