2022 Volume 71 Issue 2+3 Pages 51-63
This study aimed to evaluate the effects of care incorporating passive motion exercise of the ankle plantar dorsiflexion on lower extremity hemodynamics and comfort using physical methods-for deep vein thrombosis（DVT）prevention.
We recruited 16 healthy women, aged 20-40 years old, using a simple random allocation crossover design. We categorized them into three groups：intermittent pneumatic compression was performed continuously（IPC group）；the patients underwent passive exercise of ankle dorsiflexion and plantar flexion（ankle exercise group），and IPC was removed（IPC removal group）．We evaluated lower extremity hemodynamics, coagulation and fibrinolysis, autonomic nervous functions, and subjective sensation during each intervention.
The ankle exercise group showed a decrease in the maximum blood flow velocity in the femoral vein and deoxygenated hemoglobin. Three coagulation and fibrinolysis complexes, namely, fibrin monomer complex, thrombin-antithrombin complex, and plasmin-alpha2-plasmininhibitor-complex, showed no change among the three groups. One autonomic nervous function, the high-frequency component, remained lower in the IPC group than in the other two groups after 15 minutes. Subjective sensation was highest in the IPC group.
The ankle exercise group did not show exacerbation of lower limb venous stasis and coagulability, suggesting that a nursing intervention reduces discomfort that occurs with continuous use of IPC.
