Effects of Blood Flow Restriction Rehabilitation on Functional Mobility and Balance Among Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Patients.
September 3, 2026 updated by: Aleena Waheed, Rashid Latif Medical College
Effects of Blood Flow Restriction Rehabilitation on Functional Mobility and Balance Among Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Patients
Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a common lung disease causing restricted airflow and breathing problems. It is sometimes called emphysema or chronic bronchitis. The damage results in swelling and irritation, also called inflammation, inside the airways that limit airflow into and out of the lungs. BFR Rehabilitation is effective in improving functional mobility and balance among COPD patients.
Objective: To find out the effects of Blood Flow Restriction (BFR) Rehabilitation on functional mobility and balance among COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) patients.
Methods: A Randomized Controlled Trial Study was conducted at Gulab Devi Hospital, Hameed Latif Hospital and Arif Memorial Teaching Hospital Lahore. Fifty patients of age 45-60 years with COPD were randomized into two groups. Allocation of patients in two equal groups by lottery method will be through random assignment. Group A was treated with controlled physical therapy while Group B was treated with BFR rehabilitation. Controlled treatment includes low intensity resistance exercises while BFR Rehabilitation includes use of a tourniquet with low intensity resistance exercises. All this information will be collected through a pulse oximeter. Berg Balance Scale will be used for balance and timed up and go test for functional mobility.
Study Overview
Status
Recruiting
Conditions
Intervention / Treatment
Study Type
Interventional
Enrollment (Estimated)
50
Phase
- Not Applicable
Contacts and Locations
This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.
Study Contact
- Name: Aleena Waheed, Masters in Physical Therapy
- Phone Number: 03214883868
- Email: alwaheed28@gmail.com
Study Locations
-
-
-
Lahore, Pakistan, 54900
- Recruiting
- Arif Memorial Teaching Hospital
-
Contact:
- Aleena Waheed
- Phone Number: 03214883868
- Email: alwaheed28@gmail.com
-
Principal Investigator:
- Harmeen Nadeem, Doctor of Physical Therapy
-
-
Participation Criteria
Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.
Eligibility Criteria
Ages Eligible for Study
- Adult
- Older Adult
Accepts Healthy Volunteers
No
Description
Inclusion Criteria:
- Subjects who are clinically stable before study
- Forced expiratory volume in 1s (FEV1)/forced vital capacity (FVC)<70% and FEV1 ≥30% but <80% respectively
- Subjects who will be willing to take part in this study
Exclusion Criteria:
- Upper abdominal surgery
- Lung cancer
- Open fracture
- Mental disorder
- Active malignancy
- Severe hypertension
Study Plan
This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.
How is the study designed?
Design Details
- Primary Purpose: Other
- Allocation: Randomized
- Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
- Masking: Single
Arms and Interventions
Participant Group / Arm |
Intervention / Treatment |
|---|---|
|
Active Comparator: Resistance Exercise without tourniquet
The control group performed the same above-mentioned resistance training without the pressure cuff under the supervision of physiotherapist.
|
The control group performed the same above-mentioned resistance training without the pressure cuff under the supervision of physiotherapist.
|
|
Experimental: Blood flow restriction resistance exercise
Blood flow restriction resistance exercise (BFR-RE), or Kaatsu training, was developed by Dr. Yoshiaki Sato over 40 years ago.
It uses a low load (15-30% 1-RM) to induce gains in muscle strength and mass.
External pressure (~80% limb occlusion pressure, LOP) is applied via a tourniquet cuff to the proximal limb, restricting venous return while allowing partial arterial inflow, creating blood pooling in distal muscles.
Training was supervised by BFR-certified physiotherapists using medium-sized cuffs, placed at the proximal thigh for a maximum of 10 minutes.
Pressure was auto-adjusted to personalized LOP, inflated before the first set, maintained during rests, and deflated post-session.
Each session trained a single limb, alternated on different days, 2-3 times/week.
Exercises included isotonic knee extensions from 150° to 180°: 1 set of 30 reps, then 3 sets of 15 reps, with 30-second rests, at 1-2 sec/repetition, using sandbag resistance (15-30% 1-RM).
|
Blood flow restriction resistance exercise (BFR-RE), or Kaatsu training, was developed by Dr. Yoshiaki Sato over 40 years ago.
It uses a low load (15-30% 1-RM) to induce gains in muscle strength and mass.
External pressure (~80% limb occlusion pressure, LOP) is applied via a tourniquet cuff to the proximal limb, restricting venous return while allowing partial arterial inflow, creating blood pooling in distal muscles.
Training was supervised by BFR-certified physiotherapists using medium-sized cuffs, placed at the proximal thigh for a maximum of 10 minutes.
Pressure was auto-adjusted to personalized LOP, inflated before the first set, maintained during rests, and deflated post-session.
Each session trained a single limb, alternated on different days, 2-3 times/week.
Exercises included isotonic knee extensions from 150° to 180°: 1 set of 30 reps, then 3 sets of 15 reps, with 30-second rests, at 1-2 sec/repetition, using sandbag resistance (15-30% 1-RM).
|
What is the study measuring?
Primary Outcome Measures
Outcome Measure |
Measure Description |
Time Frame |
|---|---|---|
|
Balance
Time Frame: Pre intervention and 4 weeks post intervention
|
Balance was assessed using the Berg Balance Scale (BBS), a widely used clinical tool that evaluated functional balance through 14 tasks of varying difficulty.
Each task was scored from 0-4, with a maximum score of 56.
Higher scores indicated better balance, while lower scores reflected greater fall risk.
|
Pre intervention and 4 weeks post intervention
|
|
Oxygen Saturation
Time Frame: Pre intervention and 4 weeks post intervention
|
Oxygen saturation reflects the percentage of haemoglobin carrying oxygen, normally ranging between 95-100% in healthy individuals.
|
Pre intervention and 4 weeks post intervention
|
|
Respiratory rate
Time Frame: Pre-intervention and 4 weeks post-intervention
|
Respiratory rate will be measured using a pulse oximeter and recorded as the number of breaths taken per minute.
|
Pre-intervention and 4 weeks post-intervention
|
|
Heart Rate
Time Frame: Pre-intervention and 4 weeks post-intervention
|
Heart rate will be measured using a pulse oximeter and recorded as the number of heartbeats per minute.
|
Pre-intervention and 4 weeks post-intervention
|
Collaborators and Investigators
This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.
Sponsor
Investigators
- Principal Investigator: Harmeen Nadeem, Arif Memorial Teaching Hospital
Publications and helpful links
The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.
General Publications
- Kohlbrenner D, Kuhn M, Manettas A, Aregger C, Peterer M, Greco N, Sievi NA, Clarenbach C. Low-load blood flow restriction strength training in patients with COPD: a randomised single-blind pilot study. Thorax. 2024 Mar 15;79(4):340-348. doi: 10.1136/thorax-2023-220546.
- Lamberti N, Straudi S, Donadi M, Tanaka H, Basaglia N, Manfredini F. Effectiveness of blood flow-restricted slow walking on mobility in severe multiple sclerosis: A pilot randomized trial. Scand J Med Sci Sports. 2020 Oct;30(10):1999-2009. doi: 10.1111/sms.13764. Epub 2020 Jul 25.
- Clarkson MJ, May AK, Warmington SA. Chronic Blood Flow Restriction Exercise Improves Objective Physical Function: A Systematic Review. Front Physiol. 2019 Aug 21;10:1058. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2019.01058. eCollection 2019.
Study record dates
These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.
Study Major Dates
Study Start (Actual)
June 24, 2026
Primary Completion (Estimated)
September 24, 2026
Study Completion (Estimated)
October 25, 2026
Study Registration Dates
First Submitted
August 21, 2026
First Submitted That Met QC Criteria
September 3, 2026
First Posted (Actual)
September 4, 2026
Study Record Updates
Last Update Posted (Actual)
September 4, 2026
Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria
September 3, 2026
Last Verified
July 1, 2026
More Information
Terms related to this study
Keywords
Additional Relevant MeSH Terms
Other Study ID Numbers
- IRB/2024/209
Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)
Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?
UNDECIDED
Drug and device information, study documents
Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product
No
Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product
No
This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.