Restraint physiology: A review of the literature

Law-enforcement often uses forensic restraints to control individuals and often these individuals are placed in positions and with various amounts of weight used to hold them in place. There has been a moderate amount of research performed on humans in this field of study to assess the physiologic impact of the positions and weight on ventilatory and cardiovascular parameters. This review discusses the scientific medical literature on the use of restraints and restraint position including the use of weight force and aggregates the findings in specific physiologic areas, such as impact on blood pressure, heart rate, and ventilatory parameters.