Addition of blood flow restriction to passive mobilization reduces the rate of muscle wasting in elderly patients in the intensive care unit: a within

To evaluate the addition of blood flow restriction to passive mobilization in patients in the intensive care unit. The study was a within-patient randomized trial. Two intensive care units in Belém, from September to October 2017. In total, 34 coma patients admitted to the intensive care unit sector, and 20 patients fulfilled the study requirements. All participants received the passive mobilization protocol for lower limbs, and blood flow restriction was added only for one side in a concurrent fashion. Intervention lasted the entire patient’s hospitalization time. Thigh muscle thickness and circumference. In total, 34 subjects were enrolled in the study: 11 were excluded for exclusion criteria, 3 for death, and 20 completed the intervention (17 men and 3 women; mean age: 66？±？4.3 years). Despite both groups presented atrophy, the atrophy rate was lower in blood flow restriction limb in relation to the control limb (–2.1 vs. –2.8？mm, respectively, in muscle thickness; P？=？0.001). In addition, the blood flow restriction limb also had a smaller reduction in the thigh circumference than the control limb (–2.5 vs. –3.6？cm, respectively; P？=？0.001). The use of blood flow restriction did not present adverse effects and seems to be a valid strategy to reduce the magnitude of the rate of muscle wasting that occurs in intensive care unit patients