Document Type

Article

Version Deposited

Published Version

Publication Date

1-27-2023

Publication Title

J Osteopath Med

DOI

10.1515/jom-2022-0127

Abstract

CONTEXT: Lymphatic treatments are gentle and passive techniques believed to enhance movement of lymph back into the central circulatory system. Animal studies provide supportive evidence, yet there are few studies in humans.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study is to investigate whether the osteopathic pedal pump protocol reduces volume in the lower limbs of healthy subjects.

METHODS: A total of 30 first- and second-year medical students were recruited. Subjects were excluded from participating if they had acute asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), congestive heart failure, active infections, fractures of the lower extremities, or metastatic cancer. A within-subjects study design with pre- and posttreatment measurement of lower limb volume was utilized. Pretreatment lower limb volume measurements were obtained utilizing a volumetric water gauge prior to myofascial thoracic inlet release and a 5 min pedal lymphatic pump protocol treatment. Posttreatment lower limb measurements were taken immediately following the protocol treatment. A telephone interview was conducted 2-3 days after the treatment to assess the participants' experience of the treatment and whether the treatment elicited a subjective change from baseline. A paired t test was utilized to determine the statistical significance of volume displacement posttreatment.

RESULTS: The mean change of pretreatment to posttreatment lower limb volume was -45.63 mL with a standard deviation of 37.65 mL. The change between the pretreatment and posttreatment volume measurements was statistically significant (p

CONCLUSIONS: The osteopathic pedal pump technique, when utilized on those without leg lymphedema, reduces lower limb volume as measured by the volumetric water gauge. Further studies are warranted, especially in persons with excess lower-extremity edema, lymphedema or venous stasis.

Comments

Full text available on publisher's website: https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/jom-2022-0127/html

12 month embargo on posting published version.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Published Citation

Adams, Jill S., Parikh, Sahil H., Goodwin, Brandon J. and Noll, Donald R.. "Does the osteopathic pedal pump reduce lower limb volume in healthy subjects?" Journal of Osteopathic Medicine, vol. 123, no. 4, 2023, pp. 201-206. https://doi.org/10.1515/jom-2022-0127

Download

Share

COinS