Electrical treatment of spinal cord injuries in the 18th and 19th centuries

Abstract

Two centuries ago, electricity was being used for the treatment of paraplegia and trials were taking place in France. This study aims to identify cases of traumatic paraplegia treated with electricity in the 19th century in order to assess the therapeutic benefit. Only four such cases were identified, none with a complete transection of the spinal cord since these patients would have died from pressure sores and urinary tract infections. The personalities involved, William Gull, William Erb, Guillaume Duchenne and Cyril Henry Golding Bird are portrayed and contemporaneous views on electrotherapy analysed. While the four patients apparently benefited from the treatment, the lack of follow-up and the incomplete data prevented a definitive conclusion on the therapeutic value of electrical treatment in traumatic paraplegia.