Técnicas Avançadas em Biologia e Medicina
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Increased Blood Flow in Whole-Body Thermal Therapy with Hot Packs Versus Waon Therapy

Kazuyuki Kominami

The Waon Therapy (WT) has dominated over Thermal Therapy (TT) for chronic heart failure. Whole-body TT using Hot Packs Thermal Therapy (HPTT) may improve blood flow to the whole body. However, changes in blood flow with HPTT have not been verified. This study aimed to compare Lower-Extremity Blood Flow (LEBF) before and after HPTT and WT using venous occlusion plethysmography. We recruited 11 healthy men (28.3 ± 6.2 years). The participants underwent either HPTT or WT for 24 h. The HPTT protocol involved patients in a supine position on a bed for at least 10 min. Hot packs were then applied to the back, lower abdomen, and popliteal region for 15 min (warming). They were removed after 15 min, and the participants continued bed rest for 30 min (heat retention). The WT was performed as previously reported. LEBF was measured in the right lower leg using venous occlusion plethysmography before and after TT. Both TT approaches significantly increased LEBF (HPTT: 1.29 ± 0.48 ⇒ 2.75± 1.07%/min, p=0.001; WT: 1.51 ± 0.85 ⇒ 2.83 ± 0.90%/min, p<0.001). There was no significant difference between the pre and post-implementation values of either TT, and no interaction effect was observed. HPTT increased LEBF by approximately twice as much as that at rest and its effect was comparable to that of WT.