INCIDENCE OF PERIODIC LEG MOVEMENTS AND OF THE RESTLESS LEGS SYNDROMEDURING SLEEP FOLLOWING ACUTE PHYSICAL-ACTIVITY IN SPINAL-CORD INJURY SUBJECTS

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate sleep patterns and co mplaints, and Periodic Limb Movement (PLM) and the Restless Legs Syndr ome (RLS) in subjects with complete spinal cord injury. Volunteers wer e submitted to two polysomnograms (Oxford Medilog SAC system - EEG, EM G, EOC): (1) basal night, when the volunteer arrived at the Sleep Cent er, and (2) after a maximal physical test (Cybex Met 300/increase of 1 2,5 watts/2 min until exhaustion). Eleven volunteers with complete spi nal cord injury between T7-T12 were evaluated. Data were analyzed by t he paired Student's t test (total sleeping time) and by the Wilcoxon m atched paired test (change of sleep stages, number of awakenings durin g sleep, latency to REM sleep and leg movements-PLM+RLS). Comparison o f sleep recordings from the night before with that from the night afte r (12 h) practice of physical activity, showed a significant reduction in all of the sleep parameters. The results indicate that physical ac tivity improves the sleep patterns of spinal cord injured volunteers. In particular, we noticed that PLM and RLS after physical activity wer e inhibited during sleep.