Effects of intermittent pneumatic compression on femoral vein peak venous velocity during active ankle exercise

The impact of ankle movements on venous return flow: A comparative study

OBJECTIVE

To compare the haemodynamic effects of different ankle movements combined ankle and toe movements on the femoral vein of the lower extremity.

METHODS

28 healthy volunteers participated in the study. Doppler ultrasound was used to measure peak systolic velocity and time-averaged mean velocity of the common femoral vein during ankle dorsiflexion, ankle dorsiflexion with simultaneous toe extension, ankle plantarflexion, and ankle plantarflexion with simultaneous toe flexion.

RESULTS

In comparison to the resting state, both ankle alone or ankle combined with toe movement showed statistically significant differences (p < .01). However, there were no significant difference in the velocity of the common femoral vein between ankle alone and ankle combined with toe movement (p > .05). It is noteworthy that dorsiflexion of the ankle resulted in the highest peak velocity of blood flow.

CONCLUSION

The impact of ankle movement, with or without toe movement, the velocity of the common femoral vein is not significantly correlated.

A low-cost wearable device for portable sequential compression therapy

In 2020, cardiovascular diseases resulted in 25% of unnatural deaths in the United States. Treatment with long-term administration of medication can adversely affect other organs, and surgeries such as coronary artery grafts are risky. Meanwhile, sequential compression therapy (SCT) offers a low-risk alternative, but is currently expensive and unwieldy, and often requires the patient to be immobilized during administration. Here, we present a low-cost wearable device to administer SCT, constructed using a stacked lamination fabrication approach. Expanding on concepts from the field of soft robotics, textile sheets are thermally bonded to form pneumatic actuators, which are controlled by an inconspicuous and tetherless electronic onboard supply of pressurized air. Our open-source, low-profile, and lightweight (140 g) device costs $62, less than one-third the cost the least expensive alternative and one-half the weight of lightest alternative approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), presenting the opportunity to more effectively provide SCT to socioeconomically disadvantaged individuals. Furthermore, our textile-stacking method, inspired by conventional fabrication methods from the apparel industry, along with the lightweight fabrics used, allows the device to be worn more comfortably than other SCT devices. By reducing physical and financial encumbrances, the device presented in this work may better enable patients to treat cardiovascular diseases and aid in recovery from cardiac surgeries.

A novel device for lower leg intermittent pneumatic compression synchronized with active ankle exercise for prevention of deep vein thrombosis

Objective

Intermittent pneumatic compression devices (IPCDs) and active ankle exercises have been shown to be efficacious in preventing venous thromboembolism (VTE) by increasing venous flow velocity and volume. However, IPCDs are expensive and require electricity; therefore, they cannot be used in the event of power loss. We developed a non-powered device that provides lower leg intermittent pneumatic compression synchronized with AAEs (LISA) and compared its efficacy with AAEs alone in increasing the peak velocity in the femoral vein.

Methods

The study population consisted of 20 healthy younger men and 20 healthy older men who performed AAE every 2 s in a sitting posture under four conditions: AAE with LISA (AAE+LISA), AAE alone (AAE), AAE with IPCD, and AAE with a graduated compression stocking.

Results

The PVs under all conditions were significantly higher than those at rest. The PVs in the AAE+LISA condition were significantly higher than those in the AAE alone condition in both younger and older groups (both p < .001).

Conclusions

AAE with LISA significantly increased the PV, suggesting that LISA might be useful for preventing DVT.

The changes of the calf-vein deformation and femoral vein peak velocity during ankle pump exercise with or without graduated compression stockings

Objectives

To analyze the changes of lower limb hemodynamics parameters before and after wearing graduated compression stockings (GCS) during ankle pump exercise in patients preparing for arthroplastic surgery.

Method

The leg veins of 16 patients awaiting arthroplasty were analyzed using a Sonosite M-Turbo ultrasound system during ankle pump exercise with or without GCS. The age of them was 70 ± 7 years (mean ± SD) (range 56—82 years) and body mass index was 25.8 ± 3.0 kg/m2 (range 18.0—30.5 kg/m2). Measured data including the cross-sectional area (CSA), anteroposterior (AP) diameter and lateromedial (LM) diameter of the soleus vein (SV), posterior tibial vein (PTV) and great saphenous vein (GSV). Additionally, the peak velocities of femoral vein (FV) were also measured.

Results

GCS could significantly decrease the cross-sectional area of SV, PTV and GSV in supine position at rest and maximum ankle plantar flexion. But the compression effect of GCS to SV and GSV was not observed during maximum ankle dorsiflexion. It was found that GCS application reduced the peak flow velocity of the femoral vein from 61.85 cm/s (95% CI = 50.94–72.75 cm/s) to 38.01 cm/s (95% CI = 28.42–47.59 cm/s) (P < 0.001) during ankle plantar flexion and decreased the femoral vein in these patients from 80.65 cm/s (95% CI = 70.37–90.92 cm/s) to 51.15 cm/s (95% CI = 42.58–59.73 cm/s) (P < 0.001) during ankle dorsiflexion. But this effect was not significant in supine position at rest.

Conclusions

GCS could significantly reduce the peak flow velocity of the femoral vein during ankle pump exercise in the patients preparing for arthroplastic surgery.