Effects of compression bandaging on leg pulsatile blood flow

Leg external compression bandaging is the mainstay of venous ulcer treatment, yet little is known about the impact of therapeutic compression levels on arterial haemodynamics. In this study, the effect of foot-to-knee, four-layer compression bandaging on below-knee arterial pulsatile blood flow was assessed by nuclear magnetic resonance flowmetry. In 14 healthy supine subjects bilateral flow measurements at five below-knee sites without compression, and after compressing one leg to an average malleolar sub-bandage pressure of 40.7 +/- 4.0 mmHg, revealed a potentially important new phenomenon. The forefoot-to-knee compression bandaging caused a highly significant (P < 0.001) increase in the bandaged leg pulsatile blood flow owing to increases in both peak flow and pulse width. It is hypothesized that arteriolar vasodilatation, induced either myogenically by reduced transmural pressure or by vasodilatory substance release triggered by increased venous shear stress, produce the observed compression-related phenomenon. Whatever the mechanism(s), the finding of a compression-associated pulsatile flow increase suggests a previously undiscovered arterial linkage, which may play a role in the well-documented beneficial effects of compression bandaging in venous ulcer treatment. A possible impact of the arterial flow-pulse increase is speculated to effect venous ulcer outcome via a decrease in leucocyte effects in the distal microvasculature, as a consequence of the more vigorous haemodynamic state.