Why the study?
While BFR therapy is increasingly used for orthopedic rehabilitation and studied in healthy athletes, limited clinical data exist supporting its use after surgery.
Does blood flow restriction therapy improve rehabilitation in post-surgical orthopedic patients?
Does blood flow restriction therapy improve rehabilitation in post-surgical orthopedic patients?
Blood flow restriction training may facilitate muscle development using low-load resistance exercises, offering a unique advantage for post-surgical patients who cannot tolerate traditional high resistance training.
BFR may aid low-load rehab after orthopedic surgery; leaves open need for RCTs to confirm safety and efficacy.
Blood flow restriction (BFR) therapy is being used more frequently for rehabilitation from orthopedic injuries. Several physiologic mechanisms of action, at local and systemic levels, have been proposed. Numerous studies have investigated the effects of BFR training in healthy athletes; however, limited clinical data exist supporting the use of BFR after surgery. Given that BFR training may facilitate muscle development using low-load resistance exercises, it offers a unique advantage for the post-surgical patient who cannot tolerate traditional high resistance training. [ Orthopedics . 2021;44(6):e694–e698.]
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Curley et al. (2021) studied this question.
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