Femoral venous flow velocity during passive ankle exercise in patients with chronic spinal cord injury.
Tomoaki Hayakawa, Motoyuki Abe
PMID 31528009WHAT IT FOUND
Passive ankle exercise increased blood flow speed in the femoral vein in both chronic spinal cord injury and able-bodied groups.
Speed stayed lower with spinal cord injury. The study measured flow speed, not clot prevention.
Key findings
01During passive ankle exercise, femoral venous flow velocity was 2.39 times higher than resting values in chronic SCI and 2.74 times higher in able-bodied participants.
02All chronic SCI participants had asymptomatic DVT detected by ultrasound, and the emboli were completely organized.
03Medial gastrocnemius thickness was significantly lower in chronic SCI than in able-bodied controls (9.19 ± 3.56 mm vs 13.70 ± 2.20 mm).
STILL TO COME
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What it does not show
Only 10 men with chronic SCI and 10 able-bodied men were studied, so the findings are imprecise. All participants were male and had complete T6-T12 paraplegia, so results may not apply to women or other lesion levels. The outcome was ultrasound flow velocity, not DVT incidence, embolism, or patient-reported function. Measurements were made only while sitting, so supine venous flow is unknown. The chronic SCI group had asymptomatic organized DVT detected before the study, which may not represent typical chronic SCI populations. No randomisation or blinding was used, and exercise and ultrasound measurements were performed by single examiners.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflict of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that passive ankle exercise prevents DVT or pulmonary embolism. The study measured femoral vein flow velocity only, did not follow patients for clot events, and included 10 participants with chronic SCI.