Potential clinical utility of partial body weight support on treadmill walking time in persons with intermittent claudication: a single case report.
Intermittent claudication can seriously limit an individual's walking capacity. Walking programs are known to improve this limitation but could be limited by a person's ability to carry his or her own full body weight to perform the walking. We theorized that decreasing body weight, through mechanical unloading, might allow longer pain-free walking, thus potentially accelerating exercise training. This case report describes the effect of partial body weight support (PBWS) on walking time in a patient with claudication. A 60-year-old male with calf pain that prevented him from walking long distances or walking quickly was studied. The patient completed three treadmill walking tests (0%, 25%, and 50% PBWS) until claudication pain stopped him or 15 minutes elapsed. The participant walked 4:31 minutes at 0% PBWS with a pain rating of 3/4. He walked the full 15 minutes under each support condition with the same or less claudication pain (3/4 for 25% PBWS, 2/4 for 50% PBWS). This case reports the successful use of PBWS treadmill training for increasing walking time in an individual with intermittent claudication. If this finding holds true for a larger sample, PBWS may be a way for these individuals to participate in exercise training programs with less pain.
Division of Physical Therapy, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506-9226, USA. aswisher@hsc.wvu.edu
Anne K
AK
Swisher
Heidi
H
Long
Brittany
B
Dyer
Diana
D
Gilleland
Daniel
D
Bonner
D001835:Body Weight; D001915:Braces; D004867:Equipment Design; D005080:Exercise Test; D005081:Exercise Therapy / Q000295:instrumentation; D017079:Exercise Tolerance; D006801:Humans; D007383:Intermittent Claudication / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020127:Recovery of Function; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D016138:Walking; D016474:Weight-Bearing