Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39315626›Full record

Trial reportJournal of rehabilitation medicine2024

Enhancing upper extremity muscle strength in individuals with spinal cord injury using low-intensity blood flow restriction exercise.

Babak Shadgan, Mehdi Nourizadeh, Yekta Saremi, Leila Baktash, Stefan Lazarevic

Abstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in Journal of rehabilitation medicine, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
7citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

7 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Trial
  3. Article
  4. Review
  5. Article
  6. Evaluation of blood flow restriction combined with routine rehabilitation in incomplete thoracic and lumbar spinal cord injury after decompression: a retrospective study.European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2026
    Article
  7. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Babak ShadganInternational Collaboration on Repair Discoveries, Vancouver, Canada; Department of Orthopaedics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada; Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada; School of Biomedical Engineering, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. shadgan@gmail.com.
Mehdi NourizadehInternational Collaboration on Repair Discoveries, Vancouver, Canada; Department of Orthopaedics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada; Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
Yekta SaremiInternational Collaboration on Repair Discoveries, Vancouver, Canada.
Leila BaktashInternational Collaboration on Repair Discoveries, Vancouver, Canada.
Stefan LazarevicInternational Collaboration on Repair Discoveries, Vancouver, Canada.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesThis study explores the feasibility and effects of low-intensity blood flow restriction exercise on forearm muscle strength and function in individuals with spinal cord injury. STUDY

designPilot randomized clinical trial. PATIENTS AND

methodsTen male and female adult participants with chronic cervical and thoracic spinal cord injury underwent an 8-week low-intensity blood flow restriction exercise programme that targeted forearm muscles. Each participant's contralateral forearm served as the control. Grip strength was the primary outcome measure, and participants also provided qualitative feedback on their experiences.

resultsThe study revealed a significant increase in participants' forearm muscle strength on the experimental side engaged in low-intensity blood flow restriction training, with an average strength gain of 7.5 ± 0.36 kg after 16 exercise sessions (Cohen's d = -6.32, 95% CI -8.34, -6.68). In comparison, the control side, following a conventional high- intensity exercise regimen without BFR, showed a more modest strength increase of 4.4 ± 0.67 kg. A mean Patient's Global Impression of Change score of 2.2 reflected overall improvements in participants' daily activities and health status.

conclusionThis study highlights the feasibility and effectiveness of low-intensity blood flow restriction exercise as a safe and promising approach to enhancing forearm muscle strength in individuals with spinal cord injury. The observed positive outcomes, coupled with a high level of participant satisfaction, underscore the potential of this innovative method to significantly improve limb muscle strength, thereby contributing to greater functional independence in this population.

Indexed as

Exercise TherapyMuscle StrengthSpinal Cord InjuriesUpper ExtremityAdultBlood Flow Restriction TherapyFemaleForearmHand StrengthHumansMaleMiddle AgedMuscle, SkeletalPilot ProjectsTreatment Outcome

Identifiers

PMID39315626
PMCPMC11439758

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.