Can Blood Flow Restriction Therapy Improve Strength for Shoulder External Rotators Better Than Exercise Alone

George Fox University

Status: Unknown

Conditions: Muscular Weakness

Treatments: Device: Blood Flow Restriction

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT03815760

2181055

Details and patient eligibility

About

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the ability of blood flow restriction therapy to improve strength of shoulder muscles during the sidelying external rotation (ER) exercise versus a control group who only performs the sidelying ER exercise.

Full description

The purpose of this study is to determine if blood flow restriction (BFR) therapy is superior at increasing strength of the shoulder (supraspinatus, infraspinatus, posterior deltoid, and middle deltoid) and increasing tendon size of the supraspinatus and infraspinatus (as determined by diagnostic ultrasound) while performing the sidelying external rotation exercise compared to those who only perform the sideyling external rotation exercise without BFR.

Subjects will be randomized to one of two treatment groups: exercise with BFR or exercise alone. Recruitment will be a sample of convenience consisting of healthy adults (age range 22 to 45). Subjects will perform the sidelying external rotation exercise 2 times a week for an 8 week period.

Enrollment: 60 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 45 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

1. Healthy adult (age 18 and older) with no current shoulder pathology

Exclusion criteria

1. Current neck, shoulder (or general upper extremity), and/or thoracic spine pathology
2. Shoulder surgery (or general upper extremity surgery) during the prior 6-month time period
3. Cervical/thoracic spine surgery during the prior 1 year
4. Subject having one or more contraindications for BFR training.

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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60 participants in 2 patient groups

Exercise with Blood Flow Restriction

Experimental group

Description:

Subjects will perform the sidelying external rotation exercise 2x a week for 8 weeks. The BFR cuff will be applied to the upper arm. Arterial occlusion will be set to 50%. Subjects will perform 4 sets (30, 15, 15, 15 reps) with a 30 sec rest period between reps. The occlusion will be maintained for the 8 min treatment period.

Treatment:

Device: Blood Flow Restriction

Exercise without Blood Flow Restriction

Active Comparator group

Description:

Subjects will perform the sidelying external rotation exercise 2x a week for 8 weeks. This group will not have BFR applied. Subjects will perform 4 sets (30, 15, 15, 15 reps) with a 30 sec rest period between reps.

Treatment:

Device: Blood Flow Restriction