Effectiveness of Blood Flow Restriction in Neurological Disorders: A Systematic Review

Abstract

There is scientific evidence that Blood Flow Restriction (BFR) is beneficial in healthy people, the elderly and patients with musculoskeletal disorders. A systematic review was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of BFR in patients with neurological disorders. The literature search was conducted up until July 2022 in the following databases: PubMed, Web of Science (WOS), Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro), LILACS, Scopus, Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Literature Complete (CINAHL), the Cochrane Library and Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciELO). The PEDro scale was used to analyze the methodological quality of the studies, and the Cochrane Collaboration’s tool was employed to evaluate the risk of bias. A total of seven articles were included. BFR seems to be beneficial in neurological disorders. Improvements have been found in sensorimotor function, frequency and step length symmetry, perceived exertion, heart rate and gait speed, walking endurance, fatigue, quality of life, muscles thickness, gluteus density and muscle edema. No improvements were found in lower limb strength or balance. However, results must be taken with caution due to the small number of articles and to the large heterogeneity. More clinical trials are needed. These studies should homogenize the protocols used in larger samples, as well as improve their methodological quality.

Effectiveness of Blood Flow Restriction on Functionality, Quality of Life and Pain in Patients with Neuromusculoskeletal Pathologies: A Systematic Review

“…Currently, it has been analyzed whether BFR intervention is capable of directly influencing other variables such as pain, functionality, and quality of life, obtaining favorable results that indicate that this technique can improve, above all, the intensity of pain and the ability to perform activities of daily living [12]. Although there are many systematic reviews that analyze the effect of BFR intervention [3,[13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21], no systematic review has been found that analyzes the effect of BFR intervention on subjective and objective variables in the short-, medium-, and long-term in patients suffering from neuromusculoskeletal pathologies. Thus, to date, and to the best of our knowledge, no review has analyzed how BFR intervention can directly contribute to these variables in the rehabilitation area.…”