Blood Flow Restriction Following ACL Reconstruction — BFR  

Anterior Cruciate Ligament Rupture Clinical Trial

Official title: The Effect of Blood Flow Restriction Therapy Following Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction

Status Completed

Clinical Trial Summary

The main objective is to determine the impact of Blood Flow Restriction (BFR) therapy, in comparison to a standard rehabilitation protocol, on preventing atrophy, improving quadriceps strength and improving functional outcomes of patients recovering from ACL reconstruction. The investigators hypothesize that patients undergoing BFR therapy after ACL reconstruction surgery will have better functional outcomes than those undergoing normal rehabilitation without BFR therapy.

Clinical Trial Description

Recovery from anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction involves early physical therapy to promote muscular development. Traditional training regimens are based on the concept that muscle growth is induced with high resistance exercises of at least 65-70% of 1-repetition maximum. Achieving a high resistance level can be challenging in the early post-surgical patient who may be limited by pain, muscle atrophy, diminished proprioception, and psychological factors. Increasing evidence has suggested that Blood Flow Restriction (BFR) in resistance training, while transmitting a decreased load (25-50% of 1-repetition maximum) across the surgical site, may provide an additional benefit of inducing muscular development similar to that of high intensity exercises .

Augmenting exercises with BFR involves an external pressure cuff applied to the proximal portion of the extremity, which is inflated to a pressure that restricts venous outflow while allowing arterial inflow to continue. This creates a physiologic environment for the patient to gain the hypertrophic effect of high resistance training, though at a lower and safer intensity. Studies suggest that BFR stimulates muscular development through an increase in metabolic stress, muscle fiber recruitment, cell swelling, and protein synthesis. ;

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Anterior Cruciate Ligament Rupture
• Rupture

• NCT number: NCT03758755
• Study type: Interventional
• Source: Inova Health Care Services
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: November 1, 2018
• Completion date: October 26, 2022