Effect of high voltage stimulation on blood flow in the rat hind limb

The purpose of this study was to test the effect of high voltage stimulation (HVS) on blood flow velocity (BFV) in the rat hind limb. A 20-MHz pulsed Doppler device was used to measure BFV changes in the femoral artery of 20 anesthetized rats after electrical stimulation. The animals were stimulated under the following conditions: four different pulse rates, changes in stimulus voltage, and changes in polarity. Blood flow velocity also was measured in the unstimulated hind limb. Although each of the four pulse rates caused significant increases in BFV, the 20-pulse-per-second rate produced BFV increases significantly greater than the other three pulse rates. The BFV changes, on the average, occurred less than 1 minute from the onset of stimulation and lasted up to 14 minutes after the cessation of the stimulation. The BFV increased with increases in voltage intensity. Both the positive and negative poles elicited significant increases in BFV, but the negative pole produced the greatest increases. Blood flow in the unstimulated hind limb was unchanged after stimulation. This study indicates that HVS of muscle does cause significant increases in blood flow to the stimulated rat hind limb.