Introduction:

Athletes with spinal cord injury experience deterioration or loss of motor and/or sensory function in the cervical, thoracic, lumbar, or sacral areas of the spine, causing a greater or lesser reduction of movement that limits the development of the main and auxiliary muscles involved in breathing. These factors lead to defects in respiratory functions, hampering sports performance.

Aim:

To evaluate the respiratory function of national table tennis selection athletes with spinal cord injuries.

Materials and methods:

this study relied on theoretical, empirical, and mathematical-statistical methods.

Results:

A transversal study done during the general training stage of the two sexes revealed respiratory and cardiovascular parameters, such as forced vital capacity, apnea duration, and heartbeat at rest. The overall cardio-respiratory possibilities of athletes were determined according to the forced vital capacity observed at the end of the test, apnea duration while inhaling, and pulse at rest. The results demonstrated the need for periodical evaluation of the respiratory function of athletes with spinal cord injury, to customize training optimization and enhance sports performance.

Conclusions:

The functional tests demonstrated that tennis players with spinal cord injuries were observed to have limited vital pulmonary capacity and apnea issues, especially while inhaling. The paraplegic athletes showed better cardiorespiratory possibilities than the tetraplegic tennis players.

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