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Cardiovascular Effects From Venous Blood Pooling in the Lower Limbs During Prolonged Sitting
Kathleen Stanford1, Alexander Pomeroy2, Lee Stoner3
1Kathleen Stanford, MA, R.T.(R), is senior clinical research coordinator at Abiomed.
Insights
Prolonged sitting causes venous blood pooling, which decreases stroke volume (SV). This study shows that increased blood pooling in lower limbs during sitting impacts cardiovascular hemodynamics.
Area of Science:
- Cardiovascular Physiology
- Human Physiology
- Exercise Physiology
Background:
- Prolonged sitting is common and may lead to adverse cardiovascular effects.
- Understanding the physiological mechanisms behind these effects is crucial for public health.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine if venous blood pooling in the lower limbs during prolonged sitting reduces stroke volume (SV) and cardiac output (CO).
- To investigate the cardiovascular impact of venous blood pooling induced by prolonged sitting.
Main Methods:
- A randomized crossover trial with 16 participants was conducted.
- Two conditions were tested: prolonged sitting with (cuff) and without (noncuff) inflated tourniquets to induce venous pooling.
- Cardiac Doppler sonography measured CO, SV, and heart rate (HR); calf circumference assessed venous pooling.
Main Results:
- Venous blood pooling significantly increased calf circumference in the cuff condition (3.69%) compared to the noncuff condition (0.03%).
- Stroke volume (SV) decreased by 5.87% in the cuff condition and increased by 2.81% in the noncuff condition.
- While cardiac output (CO) showed a 5.42% decrease over time, the interaction with venous pooling was not statistically significant.
Conclusions:
- Increased venous blood pooling during prolonged sitting is associated with a decrease in stroke volume (SV).
- These findings suggest that venous blood pooling influences hemodynamic changes during prolonged sitting.
- Further research is needed to understand how to best interrupt sitting to mitigate these cardiovascular effects.
Purpose:
To investigate whether venous blood pooling in the lower limbs from prolonged sitting induces harmful cardiovascular effects by reducing stroke volume (SV) and cardiac output (CO).
Methods:
A randomized crossover trial involving 16 participants (mean age = 24.8 years ± 6.0 years, 44% women, 1 dropout) was conducted. The trial consisted of 2 conditions: cuff and noncuff, both involving 2 hours of prolonged sitting with tourniquets placed proximal to each knee. In the cuff condition, the tourniquets were inflated to subdiastolic pressure, allowing arterial inflow but preventing venous outflow. Venous blood pooling was assessed by measuring calf circumference. Cardiac Doppler sonography was used to measure CO, SV, and heart rate (HR) before and after the sitting period.
Results:
Although the interaction effect between venous blood pooling and CO was not statistically significant (P = .190), there was a significant main effect for time (effect size [ES] = 0.36, β = -0.238, 5.42% decrease). A medium-sized time-by-condition interaction effect for SV was observed (ES = 0.37, β = 6.165), with a 5.87% decrease in the cuff condition and a 2.81% increase in the noncuff condition. Furthermore, there was a large interaction effect for venous blood pooling as measured by calf circumference (ES = 1.98, β = -0.987), with a 3.69% increase in the cuff condition and a 0.03% increase in the noncuff condition.
Discussion:
Understanding the physiological adaptations that occur during prolonged sitting can provide insight into how and how often to interrupt sitting to prevent deleterious cardiovascular effects. SV decreased during the sitting period of 120 minutes in the cuff condition and increased slightly during in the noncuff condition. However, the changes in CO and HR were more variable and were not perfectly in line with the authors' hypotheses.
Conclusion:
The findings indicate that as venous blood pooling increases during prolonged sitting, SV decreases, suggesting venous blood pooling influences certain hemodynamic changes associated with prolonged sitting.
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