The Effect of Aquatic Therapy on Patients with a Complete Spinal Cord Injury in the In-Patient Rehabilitation Setting

Although aquatic therapy has been proven to be effective in the treatment of incomplete spinal cord injuries, it is consistently underutilized in the spinal cord injury patient population. Approximately 56% (n=57) of the complete spinal cord injury patients included in this study received aquatic therapy and 44% did not (n=45). This study compared the additional rehabilitation benefit for patients who received aquatic-based therapy in addition to traditional land-based therapy to those who did not. This is an important treatment modality and it has not been studied solely in patients with a complete spinal cord injury. This retrospective study did not demonstrate significantly better outcomes for the group receiving aquatic therapy, but there were significant demographic differences between groups. The results highlight the need for larger and more time intensive studies on aquatic therapy for the complete spinal cord injury population.