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CompletedNCT01894997Updated Sep 3, 2014

A Comparison of the Effects of Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation and Intermittent Pneumatic Compression on Blood Flow in the Lower Limb

An interventional study of Neuromuscular electrical stimulator and AV Impulse System Model 6000 in Venous Thrombosis, sponsored by National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland. Completed at 1 site in Ireland. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 65 Years, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2014-09-03.

Sponsored by National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland · Not applicable, Interventional, and Prevention

Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
30
Allocation
Not applicable
Ages
18 Years to 65 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT) is a life threatening condition and a serious concern among hospitalized patients, with death occurring in approximately 6% of cases. It involves the formation of a clot where stagnant blood flow occurs, predominantly in the deep veins of the legs. Three mechanisms underlie DVT, venous stasis (slowing or stopping of the blood), hypercoagulability (increased clotting) and damage to blood vessel endothelium (damage to blood vessel wall), collectively known as Virchow's triad.

Intermittent pneumatic compression (IPC) and neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) have been shown to improve lower limb blood flow. However, few studies have directly compared the two methods and those that have, have used dated NMES techniques.

The objective of this study is to compare the two methods in terms of blood flow, in both a young and an older population.

Read the detailed description

Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT) is a life threatening condition and a serious concern among hospitalized patients, with death occurring in approximately 6% of cases. It involves the formation of a clot where stagnant blood flow occurs, predominantly in the deep veins of the legs. Three mechanisms underlie DVT, venous stasis (slowing or stopping of the blood), hypercoagulability (increased clotting) and damage to blood vessel endothelium (damage to blood vessel wall), collectively known as Virchow's triad.

Intermittent Pneumatic Compression (IPC) involves the use of an inflatable cuff placed around the limb. This cuff inflates and deflates intermittently in order to squeeze blood from the underlying veins. Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation (NMES) leads to a contraction of muscles by delivering a series of controlled electrical pulses via skin surface electrodes placed over the motor points of the targeted muscle.

02

Conditions studied

  • Venous Thrombosis

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Keywords

  • Deep Vein Thrombosis
  • Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation
  • Intermittent Pneumatic Compression
  • Doppler Ultrasound
03

In context

Venous Thrombosis

787 studies on the registry are indexed under Venous Thrombosis; 123 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 30 is below the median of 131 across 463 interventional studies indexed under Venous Thrombosis.

Browse Venous Thrombosis studies →

Lead sponsor

National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland is the lead sponsor of 47 studies on the registry; 8 are open to participants now.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years to 65 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
Yes

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

  • Free from any known illness
  • Between 18 and 40 years of age
  • Between 55 and 65 years of age

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • History of heart/respiratory problems
  • Pregnancy
  • Presence of implants, including cardiac pacemakers and orthopaedic implants
  • History of neurological disorder
  • History of severe arterial disease or known dermatological problems
05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Prevention
Allocation
Not applicable
Intervention model
Single group
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
30 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    DVT Prophylaxis

    Neuromuscular electrical stimulation is to be applied using a custom-built, two-channel stimulator (Bioelectronics Research Cluster, National University of Ireland, Galway) with a frequency of 36 Hz, a balanced biphasic waveform with a pulse width of 350μs, a ramp up time of 500ms, a contraction time of 1s and a ramp down time of 500ms. Stimulation is to be applied every 20 seconds over a period of 5 minutes. Intermittent pneumatic compression is to be applied using the Novamedix A-V Impulse System Model 6000 (Novamedix distribution Limited, England), programmed to deliver compression every 20 seconds at a pressure of 130 mmHg for a 3 second duration over a period of 5 minutes.

    Device: Neuromuscular electrical stimulator · Device: AV Impulse System Model 6000

Interventions

  • DeviceNeuromuscular electrical stimulator
  • DeviceAV Impulse System Model 6000

    Also known as: Intermittent Pneumatic Compression Device

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Blood flow measurements from the lower limb

    Doppler measurements will be taken for each of the interventions.The measurement site of interest is the popliteal vein, located at the back of the knee. Peak venous velocity, time averaged mean velocity, vein cross-sectional area and volume flow will be recorded. 3 measurements of each will be taken per intervention. No measurements will be taken within the first minute of the intervention.

    Time frame: Two hours (plus or minus half an hour)

Secondary outcomes

  1. Blood pressure

    Blood pressure will be measured throughout the study using an OMRON RX3 Plus digital automatic blood pressure monitor.

    Time frame: Two hours (plus or minus half an hour)

  2. Heart rate

    Heart rate will be measured throughout the study using an OMRON RX3 Plus digital automatic blood pressure monitor.

    Time frame: Two hours (plus or minus half an hour)

07

Study locations

1 site
  • National University of Ireland, Galway
    Galway, Ireland
08

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Sep 3, 2014, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
09

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT01894997
Lead sponsor
National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland
Collaborators
Irish Research Council, Galway Clinic
Responsible party
Gearoid O Laighin (Professor, National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland) — Principal investigator
First posted
Jul 10, 2013
Start date
Jan 2014
Primary completion
Apr 2014
Completion
Apr 2014
Last update
Sep 3, 2014

Study contacts

Gearoid OLaighin, PhD
principal investigator · National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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