The effectiveness of individualized blood flow restriction training following patellar fracture surgery: a case series.

Background: Patellar fracture surgeries are associated with subsequent atrophy and weakness in the muscles of the lower limb. Individualized blood flow restriction training is progressively being recognized as a potential technique for improving muscular hypertrophy and accompanying strength in participants recovering from surgery. This study aimed to investigate the overall feasibility and observational outcomes of individualized blood flow restriction training for participants recovering from patellar fracture surgery.

Methods: A 47-year-old male (Participant one, body mass: 65 kg, height: 1.75 m, body mass index: 21.2 kg/m², three months post-patellar fracture surgery) and a 28-year-old female (Participant two, body mass: 53 kg, height: 1.67 m, body mass index: 19.8 kg/m², three months post-patellar fracture surgery) performed straight leg raises and leg extensions with individualized blood flow restriction for six weeks. The blood supply to the leg with the patellar fracture was partially restricted using a thigh pressure cuff inflated to 60% of the limb occlusion pressure. Peak torque of knee extensor, rectus femoris cross-sectional area, rectus femoris stiffness, and Lysholm score were measured at baseline and post-training.

Results: Compared to baseline, the post-training peak torque of the knee extensor, rectus femoris cross-sectional area, rectus femoris stiffness, and Lysholm score of participants one post-surgical leg increased by 48.2%, 7.9%, 7.9%, and 23 points, respectively; those of participant two increased by 134.7%, 6.8%, 14.2%, and 30 points, respectively.

Conclusions: The results showed that the individualized blood flow restriction training was feasible and suggested promising outcomes for participants after surgery. Further research with a large sample size is required to flesh out and generalize the training program.

Trial registration: The Nanjing First Hospital's ethics committee accepted the research before testing. The clinical test was documented with clinicaltrials.gov (NCT05371431, Registered 08-20-2020, prospectively registered).