The Benefits of Blood Flow Restriction Training After Knee Surgery
LayMed Simplified Version
Adding light-weight BFRĀ training after arthroscopicĀ knee surgery results in significantly faster and greater muscle size and strength gains compared to traditional physical therapy alone, and improves multiple other aspects of recovery.
BLOOD FLOW RESTRICTION TRAINING:
BFR training involves doing exercises (usually with relatively light weight) while partially restricting blood flow to and from the target muscles using an inflatable cuff at pressures that are based on a percentage of the user’s blood pressure.
This method has multiple proven benefits (including increased muscle size, strength, and endurance), and is particularly useful for people who still want to gain the benefits of high-load exercises without putting too much strain on their joints or tissues, since doing low-weight exercises with BFR has been shown to provide the same or greater gains as high-load exercises.
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APPLICATION TO KNEE SURGERY:
After knee surgeries, people often have weaker thigh muscles, even years later. So this study looked at whether adding BFR training to traditional physical therapy could help people recover faster and more completely after knee surgery.
17 patients participated in this trial after each had undergone knee surgery. They were randomly split into two groups:
- BFR Group: Went through 12 sessions of supervised physical therapy that included 3 BFR exercises in each session
- Control Group: Went through the same 12 supervised physical therapy sessions, but without the BFR exercises
Before and after the therapy the researchers measured thigh size, physical function, knee health, overall health, and muscle strength. They also checked for blood clots in the legs.
The BFR group developed significantly greater increases in thigh muscle size at specific points above the knee (with greater increases in the upper thigh [p = 0.0001] than the lower thigh [p = 0.0111.
The BFR group also had better physical function (measured by scales called VR-12Ā and KOOS) and faster stair climbing [p = 0.0281] compared to the Control group. Their knee health and overall health scores improved more, including mental health [p = 0.0149].
The BFR groupās muscle strength in bending and straightening the knee improved about twice as much as the regular therapy group (74.59% vs 33.5% increase in strength).
No one had any negative side effects.
Disclaimer: This simplified version is LayMedās own interpretation of the original articleās text, and may or may not accurately reflect the beliefs, views, or findings of the authors. The article was published in May, 2017 in the Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine, and the copyright is owned by Wolters KluwerĀ Health,Ā Inc.