Ischemic Preconditioning Improves Arterial Stiffness And Heart Rate In Older Adults With Symptomatic Knee Osteoarthritis

PURPOSE: Individuals with symptomatic knee osteoarthritis (KOA) have an increased risk for cardiovascular (CV) disease. Although physical activity is commonly prescribed for KOA, joint pain makes most KOA patients non-adherent to traditional treatment options, thereby increasing CV disease risk. Thus, we aimed to investigate the effect of ischemic preconditioning (IC), a passive treatment, on resting heart rate (HR) and arterial stiffness in participants with KOA. METHODS: Twenty-three older adults (12F/11M; 64.57 ± 9.33 years; 170.61 ± 11.99 cm; 89.13 ± 24.38 kg) with KOA in at least one limb had resting heart rate (HR) and arterial stiffness measured before and after a single treatment session. Participants either received IC (n = 16) or sham (n = 8) treatment. Both IC and sham treatments were administered on the involved leg with KOA and consisted of 5 minutes of inflation (225 mmHg for IC or 25 mmHg for sham) followed by 5 minutes of reperfusion for 50 minutes. At baseline, both arterial stiffness and resting HR were measured after 30-minutes of supine lying and measured immediately following the 50-minute sham or IC treatment. Arterial stiffness was defined by Augmentation Index (AIx) measured during pulse wave analysis. A repeated measures MANOVA was used to evaluate time x group interaction effects, and the magnitude of significant differences in HR and AIx pre-post IC or sham were reported using Cohen’s d effect sizes and mean differences (MD). RESULTS: There was a statistically significant interaction effect between time (pre- or post-) and group (IC or sham) on the combined dependent variables (p = .027). There was a significant decrease in AIx (MD = -3.75 ± 10.21%, d = -0.37) and HR MD = -4.08 ± 7.09%, d = -0.58 ) following IC, but not in AIx (MD = 0.34 ± 10.00%, d = 0.03) and HR (MD = -1.44 ± 12.49%, d = -0.12) following sham treatment. CONCLUSIONS: A single session of IC significantly decreased arterial stiffness (AIx) and resting HR when compared to the sham group. This suggests that a single session of IC has a cardio-protective effect in KOA patients and can improve their CV comorbidity. IC, administered chronically, should continue to be investigated as a passive intervention to improve CV health in older adults with KOA. Supported by: AHA 24IAUST1201236