Upper Limb Blood Flow Restriction in Handball Players

Universidad Católica San Antonio de Murcia22 enrolled

Overview

Introduction. Blood flow restriction therapy involves the use of an occlusion cuff placed over an extremity resulting in a partial reduction of arterial blood flow and total restriction of venous return. Objectives. To analyse the efficacy of a physiotherapy intervention using blood flow restriction in improving upper limb strength in adult handball players. Methods. Randomised, single-blind, clinical study. 20 athletes will be recruited and randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups. The intervention of the experimental group will consist of performing an exercise protocol after blood flow restriction. The intervention period will last 4 weeks, with a periodicity of 2 weekly sessions of 30 minutes each. The primary variable will be the strength of the triceps, epicondyle and epitrochlear musculature (pressure hand dynamometer). The secondary variable will be the muscle activation of this musculature (surface electromyography).

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

SINGLE

Enrollment

Conditions

Sports Physical Therapy

Interventions

Eligibility

Sex: MALEMin age: 18 YearsMax age: 30 YearsHealthy volunteers:

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: * Athletes over 18 years of age. * Federated in handball at the time of the study. * No lower limb injuries in the three months prior to the study. * Signing the informed consent document. Exclusion Criteria: * Athletes who have undergone surgery in the year prior to the study. * People who do not attend at least 80% of the treatment sessions. * Players who are receiving physiotherapy treatment in parallel to the physical preparation of the team they are playing for.

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Assess the muscle strength at screening visit

Muscle strength will be assessed with a pressure dynamometer (Lafayette Manual Muscle model). The strength of the triceps brachii, epicondyle and epitrochlear musculature will be measured. The evaluation protocol used by Morin et al. will be used. The unit of measurement is the Newton (the higher the value, the greater the muscle strength). The measurements are taken bilaterally. The mean value of the 2 measurements taken shall be used as a measure.

Time frame: Screening visit, within the first seven days after treatment and after four weeks follow-up

Secondary Outcomes

Assess the muscle activation at screening visit

Muscle activation will be measured by surface electromyography (model SHIMMMER2, Shimmer, Ireland). Electrode placement will be marked on standing subjects, and will be positioned according to European recommendations for the use of surface electromyography. A bipolar SEMG system will be used with circular electrodes of 10 mm diameter, 20 mm apart, placed longitudinally, in the direction of the muscle fibres under study, and with a reference electrode at a distance. The unit of measurement is µV, where the higher the score, the greater the muscle activation.