[Purpose] We examined the use and safety of KAATSU training by a national survey in 2016.

[Methods] We provided a questionnaire survey (web input) to attendees of the annual academic meeting of the Japan KAATSU Training Society and on the website of the academic society on October 29, 2016. The reply deadline was set at to about approximately 2 months.

[Results] Responses were received from KAATSU leaders or instructors of 232 facilities. KAATSU training has been applied for various types of situations; health promotion (87% of total facilities), diet (85%), beauty and anti-aging (70%), increase of muscle strength (71%), muscle hypertrophy (72%), and improvement of sports performance (53%), and for other situations. In addition, it has been used for rehabilitation (38%); orthopedic disease (38%), obesity (17%), diabetes (12%), cerebrovascular disease (11%), cardiovascular disease (8%), depression (7%), infertility (6%), neuromuscular diseases (5%), and immune diseases (3%). The ratio of the effectiveness or improvement of more than five tenths accounted for 92% of the total. The specific symptoms noted were as follows: dizziness, subcutaneous hemorrhage, drowsiness, numbness, nausea, itchiness and others. There were no serious side effects, such as cerebral hemorrhage, cerebral infarction, thrombosis, or rhabdomyolysis.

[Conclusion] Facilities under the guidance of appropriate KAATSU training leaders or instructors can achieve safe and beneficial effects, regardless of subject age, gender, or physical condition in 2016 just as back in 2006.

[Objective] It is well known that knee meniscectomy is one of the major knee surgeries, which induces thigh muscle atrophy. However, it is unclear whether thigh muscle size after knee meniscectomy can be improved with KAATSU training. We examined effect of KAATSU training on thigh muscle size and safety for a patient with knee meniscectomy.

[Methods] The patient was a 57-year-old woman (standing height 159 cm and body weight 52 kg). The KAATSU training composed of 7 types of resistance exercise and one type of cycling exercise was provided for a total of 125 sessions over approximately 3 years. Transverse scans were carried out for mid-thigh length. Thigh muscle cross-sectional area (CSA) in affected-leg and unaffected-leg was measured by the CT scan before, 63 weeks, and 152 weeks after the training.

[Results] Thigh muscle CSA was highly increased for affected-leg, and the attained level was exactly similar for both legs after the 152 weeks training period.

[Conclusion] The long-term KAATSU exercises were a highly safe and effective training method for a patient with knee meniscectomy.