Introduction:
Obstructive sleep apnea in spinal cord injured (SCI) patients is an important but underestimated clinical problem. Spinal cord injury weakens the muscles responsible for breathing, resulting in a reduction in lung capacity. Training of respiratory muscles may present an effective method of increasing respiratory muscle strength and lung volume.

Aim:
The aim of study was to evaluate the effectiveness of robot-assisted gait training (RAGT) in 34 patients with SCI in sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) reduction.

Material and methods:
We conducted a control trail to compare RAGT (exoskeleton EKSO-GT or Locomat Pro) with conventional gait training using conventional physiotherapy with dynamic parapodium. We included patients with SCI (above T8 level of injury) recruited between 3 months and 2 years post injury. Polysomnographic studies were performed before and after the completion of the 7-week rehabilitation program. Patients were divided into 2 groups above and up 40 years old.

Results and discussion:
The comparison of all polysomnographic parameters before and after rehabilitation with RAGT revealed the decline in all polysomnographic parameters (the apnea-hypopnea index – AHI; score reached statistically significant value – P < 0.02). In comparison in patients aged up to 40 years with conventional gait rehabilitation the number of apnoea’s and shortness of breath during sleep even increased: the AHI index increased after rehabilitation from 1.7 to 3.2 values.

Conclusions:
RAGT therapy should be considered as a therapeutic option for SDB reduction in patients after SCI. Additionally, the study identified the need to conduct further studies on larger groups of patients.