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Effects of Blood Flow Restriction Rehabilitation on Functional Mobility and Balance Among Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Patients.

Effects of Blood Flow Restriction Rehabilitation on Functional Mobility and Balance Among Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Patients

Status
Recruiting
Phases
Unknown
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT07805330
Enrollment
50
Registered
2026-09-04
Start date
2026-06-24
Completion date
2026-10-25
Last updated
2026-09-04

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)

Keywords

chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), Blood Flow Restriction Rehabilitation, functional mobility, balance

Brief summary

Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a common lung disease causing restricted airflow and breathing problems. It is sometimes called emphysema or chronic bronchitis. The damage results in swelling and irritation, also called inflammation, inside the airways that limit airflow into and out of the lungs. BFR Rehabilitation is effective in improving functional mobility and balance among COPD patients. Objective: To find out the effects of Blood Flow Restriction (BFR) Rehabilitation on functional mobility and balance among COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) patients. Methods: A Randomized Controlled Trial Study was conducted at Gulab Devi Hospital, Hameed Latif Hospital and Arif Memorial Teaching Hospital Lahore. Fifty patients of age 45-60 years with COPD were randomized into two groups. Allocation of patients in two equal groups by lottery method will be through random assignment. Group A was treated with controlled physical therapy while Group B was treated with BFR rehabilitation. Controlled treatment includes low intensity resistance exercises while BFR Rehabilitation includes use of a tourniquet with low intensity resistance exercises. All this information will be collected through a pulse oximeter. Berg Balance Scale will be used for balance and timed up and go test for functional mobility.

Interventions

OTHERResistance Exercise without tourniquet

The control group performed the same above-mentioned resistance training without the pressure cuff under the supervision of physiotherapist.

Blood flow restriction resistance exercise (BFR-RE), or Kaatsu training, was developed by Dr. Yoshiaki Sato over 40 years ago. It uses a low load (15-30% 1-RM) to induce gains in muscle strength and mass. External pressure (\~80% limb occlusion pressure, LOP) is applied via a tourniquet cuff to the proximal limb, restricting venous return while allowing partial arterial inflow, creating blood pooling in distal muscles. Training was supervised by BFR-certified physiotherapists using medium-sized cuffs, placed at the proximal thigh for a maximum of 10 minutes. Pressure was auto-adjusted to personalized LOP, inflated before the first set, maintained during rests, and deflated post-session. Each session trained a single limb, alternated on different days, 2-3 times/week. Exercises included isotonic knee extensions from 150° to 180°: 1 set of 30 reps, then 3 sets of 15 reps, with 30-second rests, at 1-2 sec/repetition, using sandbag resistance (15-30% 1-RM).

Sponsors

Rashid Latif Medical College
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
OTHER
Masking
SINGLE (Outcomes Assessor)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
20 Years to 65 Years
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

* Subjects who are clinically stable before study * Forced expiratory volume in 1s (FEV1)/forced vital capacity (FVC)\<70% and FEV1 ≥30% but \<80% respectively * Subjects who will be willing to take part in this study

Exclusion criteria

* Upper abdominal surgery * Lung cancer * Open fracture * Mental disorder * Active malignancy * Severe hypertension

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
BalancePre intervention and 4 weeks post interventionBalance was assessed using the Berg Balance Scale (BBS), a widely used clinical tool that evaluated functional balance through 14 tasks of varying difficulty. Each task was scored from 0-4, with a maximum score of 56. Higher scores indicated better balance, while lower scores reflected greater fall risk.
Oxygen SaturationPre intervention and 4 weeks post interventionOxygen saturation reflects the percentage of haemoglobin carrying oxygen, normally ranging between 95-100% in healthy individuals.
Respiratory ratePre-intervention and 4 weeks post-interventionRespiratory rate will be measured using a pulse oximeter and recorded as the number of breaths taken per minute.
Heart RatePre-intervention and 4 weeks post-interventionHeart rate will be measured using a pulse oximeter and recorded as the number of heartbeats per minute.

Countries

Pakistan

Contacts

CONTACTAleena Waheed, Masters in Physical Therapy
alwaheed28@gmail.com03214883868
PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATORHarmeen Nadeem

Arif Memorial Teaching Hospital

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Sep 5, 2026