TY - JOUR
T1 - Hemodynamic effects of habituation to a week-long program of neuromuscular electrical stimulation
AU - Corley, Gavin J.
AU - Breen, Paul P.
AU - Bîrlea, Sînziana I.
AU - Serrador, Jorge M.
AU - Grace, Pierce A.
AU - ÓLaighin, Gearóid
PY - 2012
Y1 - 2012
N2 - Objectives: Neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) of the calf muscles has been shown to cause instantaneous increases in venous outflow from the lower leg and could be used as an adjunct to current gold-standard compression therapies for the prevention of venous stasis and its related pathologies. However, little is known about the effects of NMES in combination with compression therapies on subject comfort, compliance and popliteal venous blood flow over the course of a week-long NMES protocol. This study aimed to assess the effects of a NMES and compression protocol for the prevention of venous stasis on the compliance, comfort and venous blood flow of healthy volunteers over the course of seven days. Design: Twenty-four healthy subjects were assigned to either a stimulation or control group. The stimulation group received 1.5. h of NMES daily while the control group received none. Daily measures of popliteal venous blood flow, subject compliance and comfort were recorded over 7 days. Results: Ejected blood flow volumes and peak velocities in the popliteal vein during NMES were sustained over a 30-min stimulation session and increased by approximately 100% over the course of seven days. Mean stimulation intensities increased progressively throughout the week, while perceived pain during NMES decreased significantly. Mean compliance to the 7-day protocol was 100%. Conclusion: User habituation to a combined NMES and compression protocol resulted in significant increases in ejected venous volume and peak velocity over the course of 7 days. This resulted in the highest ejected venous volume reported from a single NMES induced contraction of the calf muscles to date which was twice the magnitude of values previously reported in the literature. These findings suggest that NMES based protocols applied over an extended period of days, weeks or months may provide greater hemodynamic effect for the prevention of venous stasis than previously observed during NMES sessions lasting less than a few hours.
AB - Objectives: Neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) of the calf muscles has been shown to cause instantaneous increases in venous outflow from the lower leg and could be used as an adjunct to current gold-standard compression therapies for the prevention of venous stasis and its related pathologies. However, little is known about the effects of NMES in combination with compression therapies on subject comfort, compliance and popliteal venous blood flow over the course of a week-long NMES protocol. This study aimed to assess the effects of a NMES and compression protocol for the prevention of venous stasis on the compliance, comfort and venous blood flow of healthy volunteers over the course of seven days. Design: Twenty-four healthy subjects were assigned to either a stimulation or control group. The stimulation group received 1.5. h of NMES daily while the control group received none. Daily measures of popliteal venous blood flow, subject compliance and comfort were recorded over 7 days. Results: Ejected blood flow volumes and peak velocities in the popliteal vein during NMES were sustained over a 30-min stimulation session and increased by approximately 100% over the course of seven days. Mean stimulation intensities increased progressively throughout the week, while perceived pain during NMES decreased significantly. Mean compliance to the 7-day protocol was 100%. Conclusion: User habituation to a combined NMES and compression protocol resulted in significant increases in ejected venous volume and peak velocity over the course of 7 days. This resulted in the highest ejected venous volume reported from a single NMES induced contraction of the calf muscles to date which was twice the magnitude of values previously reported in the literature. These findings suggest that NMES based protocols applied over an extended period of days, weeks or months may provide greater hemodynamic effect for the prevention of venous stasis than previously observed during NMES sessions lasting less than a few hours.
UR - http://hdl.handle.net/1959.7/uws:17665
U2 - 10.1016/j.medengphy.2011.08.005
DO - 10.1016/j.medengphy.2011.08.005
M3 - Article
SN - 1350-4533
VL - 34
SP - 459
EP - 465
JO - Medical Engineering & Physics
JF - Medical Engineering & Physics
IS - 4
ER -