Data showed improvements secondary to exercise in ' physical function ' and ' general health ' .
The other domains - ' role physical ' , ' bodily pain ' , ' vitality ' , ' social ' , ' role emotional ' , and ' mental health ' - did not show improvement at six months .
Although results showed significant heterogeneity between trials , population s and outcomes were comparable overall , with findings relevant to the claudicant population .
High- quality evidence shows that exercise programmes provided important benefit compared with placebo or usual care in improving both pain-free and maximum walking distance in people with leg pain from IC who were considered to be fit for exercise intervention .
Exercise did not improve ABI , and we found no evidence of an effect of exercise on amputation or mortality .
Exercise may improve quality of life when compared with placebo or usual care .
BACKGROUND Exercise programmes are a relatively inexpensive , low-risk option compared with other , more invasive therapies for treatment of leg pain on walking ( intermittent claudication ( IC ) ) .
This is the fourth up date of a review first published in 1998 .
OBJECTIVES Our goal was to determine whether an exercise programme was effective in alleviating symptoms and increasing walking treadmill distances and walking times in people with intermittent claudication .
Secondary objectives were to determine whether exercise was effective in preventing deterioration of underlying disease , reducing cardiovascular events , and improving quality of life .
The Influence of Electrostimulation on the Circulation of the Remaining Leg in Patients with One-Sided Amputation
The aim of the authors ' study was to investigate , in patients with one leg amputated , the influence of electrostimulation on the arterial circulation of the other lower limb and on the ability of a leg with deteriorated blood flow to perform work . The study encompassed 50 patients who were admitted to the rehabilitation center to obtain a leg prosthesis and learn to walk after amputation of 1 lower limb because of severe circulatory disturbance . The patients were r and omly divided into 2 groups . The first group contained 25 patients treated with a st and ard exercise program for patients with limb amputation ( control group , C ) . In this control group , according to the Fontaine 's classification of peripheral arterial occlusive disease ( PAOD ) , 15 patients were in stage I and 10 patients were in stage II . In the second group , the electro stimulated ( ES ) group , there were also 25 patients that had the same rehabilitation program , to which electrostimulation of the gastrocnemius muscle of the remaining leg was added . In this group , 14 patients were in stage I , 10 patients were in stage II , and 1 patient was in stage III of PAOD . For electrostimulation , biphasic charge-balanced asymmetrical current stimuli with a pulse duration of 0.25 ms were used . The electrostimulation program consisted of 2 hours of electrostimulation per day for 8 weeks . Each patient was examined at the start of the rehabilitation program ( examination I ) , at the end of the 8-week program ( examination II ) and at the end of a 1-year follow-up period ( examination III ) . The effects of the treatment were followed using clinical examination , determination of the ankle-brachial index ( ABI ) , and by measuring the partial oxygen pressure ( TcPO2 ) on the skin surface of the diseased leg at rest and during exercise . After 8 weeks of treatment , in 3 patients of the ES group , claudica tion disappeared , and they thus moved from clinical stage II to stage I. In the control group , there were no changes in the clinical stages of PAOD . At the end of the observation period , 6 patients in group C and 5 patients in the ES group registered a progression of PAOD . During the observation period , 3 patients in group C and 1 patient in the ES group had below-knee amputations of the remaining leg ( p<0.01 ) . Perfusion pressures and ABI of investigated legs were comparable between groups and did not change during treatment . After 1 year of obser vation , there was a trend to ABI decrease in both groups . The capability of the diseased leg for performing work increased significantly during treatment only in the ES group . During treatment , TcPO2 at rest on the dorsum of the foot increased nonsignificantly in the ES group but in group C a trend of decrease in its value was indicated . After 8 weeks of treatment , total and partial oxygen drop during exercise significantly decreased in the ES group ; whereas , in group C , there was no significant change . During the 1-year observation period , these effects of electrostimulation disappeared ; however , fewer amputations in the ES group favor the presumption that this could be a positive effect of electrostimulation . The results of the authors ' study showed that electrostimulation improved oxygen delivery to a leg with disturbed arterial circulation and increased its work load capacity . The changes are probably caused by improvement of
Data showed improvements secondary to exercise in ' physical function ' and ' general health ' .
The other domains - ' role physical ' , ' bodily pain ' , ' vitality ' , ' social ' , ' role emotional ' , and ' mental health ' - did not show improvement at six months .
Although results showed significant heterogeneity between trials , population s and outcomes were comparable overall , with findings relevant to the claudicant population .
High- quality evidence shows that exercise programmes provided important benefit compared with placebo or usual care in improving both pain-free and maximum walking distance in people with leg pain from IC who were considered to be fit for exercise intervention .
Exercise did not improve ABI , and we found no evidence of an effect of exercise on amputation or mortality .
Exercise may improve quality of life when compared with placebo or usual care .
BACKGROUND Exercise programmes are a relatively inexpensive , low-risk option compared with other , more invasive therapies for treatment of leg pain on walking ( intermittent claudication ( IC ) ) .
This is the fourth up date of a review first published in 1998 .
OBJECTIVES Our goal was to determine whether an exercise programme was effective in alleviating symptoms and increasing walking treadmill distances and walking times in people with intermittent claudication .
Secondary objectives were to determine whether exercise was effective in preventing deterioration of underlying disease , reducing cardiovascular events , and improving quality of life .