Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Volume 88, Issue 6 , Pages 703-709, June 2007

Effects of Graduated Compression Stockings on Cardiovascular and Metabolic Responses to Exercise and Exercise Recovery in Persons With Spinal Cord Injury

  • Diana Rimaud, MSc

      Affiliations

    • Unité de Recherche Physiologie et Physiopathologie de l’Exercice et Handicap, Faculté de Médecine Jacques Lisfranc, Université Jean Monnet, and Service de Médecine Physique et de Réadaptation, Hôpital Bellevue, Saint Etienne, France
    • Corresponding Author InformationReprint requests to Diana Rimaud, MSc, Dept of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, CHU Saint Etienne; Hôpital Bellevue, 42055 Saint-Etienne, Cedex 2, France
    • ,
  • Paul Calmels, MD, PhD

      Affiliations

    • Unité de Recherche Physiologie et Physiopathologie de l’Exercice et Handicap, Faculté de Médecine Jacques Lisfranc, Université Jean Monnet, and Service de Médecine Physique et de Réadaptation, Hôpital Bellevue, Saint Etienne, France
    • ,
  • Frédéric Roche, MD, PhD

      Affiliations

    • Unité de Recherche Physiologie et Physiopathologie de l’Exercice et Handicap, Faculté de Médecine Jacques Lisfranc, Université Jean Monnet, and Service de Médecine Physique et de Réadaptation, Hôpital Bellevue, Saint Etienne, France
    • ,
  • Jean-Jacques Mongold, MD

      Affiliations

    • Gibaud S.A., Saint-Etienne, France
    • ,
  • François Trudeau, PhD

      Affiliations

    • Département des Sciences de l’Activité Physique, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, Trois-Rivières, QC, Canada.
    • ,
  • Xavier Devillard, PhD

      Affiliations

    • Unité de Recherche Physiologie et Physiopathologie de l’Exercice et Handicap, Faculté de Médecine Jacques Lisfranc, Université Jean Monnet, and Service de Médecine Physique et de Réadaptation, Hôpital Bellevue, Saint Etienne, France

Abstract 

Rimaud D, Calmels P, Roche F, Mongold J-J, Trudeau F, Devillard X. Effects of graduated compression stockings on cardiovascular and metabolic responses to exercise and exercise recovery in persons with spinal cord injury.

Objective

To investigate whether reporting blood redistribution by means of graduated elastic stockings affects exercise and postexercise responses in people with spinal cord injury (SCI).

Design

Crossover trial.

Setting

Physical medicine and rehabilitation department in France.

Participants

Fourteen men with traumatic SCI, grouped according to their level of injury.

Interventions

Subjects performed 2 maximal wheelchair exercise tests 1 week apart, in random order and under a counter-balanced design. One test was done with and the other without graduated elastic stockings (21mmHg).

Main Outcome Measures

Blood lactate, blood pressure, heart rate, maximal power output, and oxygen consumption (V̇o2).

Results

Postexercise venous lactate concentration was reduced in SCI subjects with lesion levels below T6 while wearing graduated elastic stockings during both exercise and recovery (10.9±3.9mmol/L vs 12.5±4.6mmol/L, P<.05). There were no significant differences in submaximal and maximal values (heart rate, V̇o2, power output) between subjects tested with and without graduated elastic stockings.

Conclusions

Wearing elastic stockings affects postexercise responses by decreasing lactate concentration in well-trained, low-level paraplegic patients after a maximal exercise. The relatively low pressure generated by the stockings may not, however, influence the venous system enough to produce improved performance and cardiovascular responses.

Key Words: Blood, Elastic stockings, Exercise, Lactic acid, Rehabilitation, Spinal cord injuries

 

 Supported by the Centre of Medical Technology (Saint-Etienne, France) and Gibaud SAS (Saint-Etienne, France).No commercial party having a direct financial interest in the results of the research supporting this article has or will confer a benefit upon the author(s) or upon any organization with which the author(s) is/are associated.

PII: S0003-9993(07)00232-8

doi:10.1016/j.apmr.2007.03.023

Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Volume 88, Issue 6 , Pages 703-709, June 2007

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