Effectiveness of Blood Flow Restriction (BFR) Exercise Therapy to Reduce Pain in Knee Osteoarthritis (OA) Patients. A Double-blinded Randomised Clinical Trial
Effectiveness of Blood Flow Restriction (BFR) Exercise Therapy to Reduce Pain in Knee Osteoarthritis (OA) Patients. A Double-blinded Randomised Clinical Trial
Resistance training of knee extensor muscles is being used in physiotherapy management in knee osteoarthritis (OA) to improve pain and physical function. Blood flow restriction (BFR) has been suggested to improve pain and increase muscle strength in healthy subjects and certain diseases. Although there are clinical studies suggesting improvements in knee osteoarthritis symptoms after 4-12 weeks of exercise with BFR, the acute effects of the intervention have not been known.
This study aims to assess the effectiveness of low load exercise therapy combined with BFR on acute pain reduction and within 24 hours post-intervention on people with knee OA compared to a placebo group.
This study will take place in Athens, Greece, as part of the postgraduate MSc program of the Physiotherapy department of the University of West Attica.
A double-blinded randomised clinical trial with a total of 42 participants will be randomly assigned to the intervention (n=21) or the control group (n=21).
The intervention group will complete a single exercise session with BFR 80%, 30% 1RM, while the control group will have sham BFR, 30% 1RM.
Pain Pressure Threshold (PPT) will be assessed with the use of a digital pressure dynamometer.
Inclusion Criteria:
Exclusion Criteria:
mscphys18003@uniwa.gr+306909921606
gioftsos@uniwa.gr+302105387485