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| Intermittent Pneumatic Compression of Legs Increases Microcirculation in Distant Skeletal Muscle |
| Source: Liu K, Chen LE, Seaber AV, et al: Journal of Orthopaedic Research 17(1): 88-95, 1999 |
| Summary: The effects of intermittent pneumatic compression (IPC) on microcirculation were examined using a rat cremaster-muscle model. The IPC device applied rapid asymmetrical compression to the legs at 55 mmHg within 1 second, with a 5 second hold time*, and caused “a marked and rapid increase of blood-flow velocity in the lower extremities, thereby creating strong shear stress on the venous wall.” The results showed that the application of intermittent pneumatic compression with the same parameters used in this study “can significantly increase the diameter of both arterial and venous vessels in rat cremaster muscle at the microcirculation level. Because the inhibition of nitric-oxide production completely eliminates vasodilation induced by IPC, an explanation of the compression’s effectiveness may be related to increasing nitric-oxide release as a result of hemodynamic changes during the compression.” This suggests that rapid leg inflation IPC may be beneficial for the improvement of microcirculation. *These are the same inflation parameters as found in VenaFlow. |