The reproducibility of limb blood flow measurements in human volunteers at rest and after exercise by using mercury-in-Silastic strain gauge plethysmography under standardized conditions.

A study to assess the reproducibility of limb blood flow measurements by venous occlusion plethysmography using mercury-in-Silastic strain gauges was performed in six normal volunteers under standardized conditions. Using this technique forearm and calf blood flow were measured at rest and between 2 and 3 min after submaximal exercise on six separate occasions over a 1 month period. The mean coefficient of variation for resting forearm blood flow was 10.5% (range 7.8-15.6%). The mean coefficient of variation for resting calf blood flow was 11.5% (range 7.4-14.2%). The mean coefficient of variation for post-exercise calf blood flow was 13% (range 11.5-16.4%). The results suggest that limb blood flow measurement by this technique may be useful in studies where serial measurements are required.