School of Engineering and Informatics, NUI Galway, Galway, Ireland.
Med Eng Phys. 2010 May;32(4):349-55. doi: 10.1016/j.medengphy.2010.01.006. Epub 2010 Feb 18.
Bed rest poses an increased risk factor for a potentially fatal venous thromboembolism (VTE). Lack of activation of the calf muscle pump during this resting period gives rise to venous stasis which may lead to deep vein thrombosis (DVT) development. Our aim was to investigate the effects that 4h of bed rest have on the lower limb hemodynamics of healthy subjects and to what extent electrically elicited contractions of the calf muscles can alleviate these effects. Outcome variables included popliteal vein blood flow and heart rate. Primary results indicated that the resting group experienced a significant decline in popliteal venous blood flow of approximately 47% with approximately 13% decrease in heart rate. The stimulated groups maintained a significantly higher venous blood flow and heart rate. Volume flow in the contralateral limb remained constant throughout the study and was comparable to that of the stimulated limb's recovery flow. The results suggest that even short periods of bed rest can significantly reduce lower limb blood flow which could have implications for DVT development. Electrically elicited calf muscle contractions significantly improve lower limb blood flow and can alleviate some debilitating effects of bed rest.
卧床休息会增加致命性静脉血栓栓塞症（VTE）的风险因素。在这段休息期间，小腿肌肉泵的活动不足会导致静脉淤血，从而可能导致深静脉血栓形成（DVT）的发展。我们的目的是研究 4 小时卧床休息对健康受试者下肢血液动力学的影响，以及电诱发小腿肌肉收缩在多大程度上可以减轻这些影响。结果变量包括腘静脉血流和心率。主要结果表明，休息组的腘静脉血流明显下降，约为 47%，心率约下降 13%。刺激组的静脉血流和心率保持显著较高。对侧肢体的血流量在整个研究过程中保持不变，与刺激肢体的恢复血流量相当。结果表明，即使是短暂的卧床休息也会显著降低下肢血液流量，这可能对 DVT 的发展有影响。电诱发的小腿肌肉收缩可显著改善下肢血液流量，并可减轻卧床休息的一些不良影响。
