The effect of an anti-G suit on cardiovascular responses to exercise in persons with paraplegia.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether external pressure on legs and abdomen could prevent venous blood pooling in persons with paraplegia and thus positively affect their cardiovascular responses to arm exercise. To investigate this, five male subjects with paraplegia (P), with complete lesions between T6 and T12, and five male control subjects who were wheelchair bound (C) (due to a chronic lower extremity disability), performed submaximal arm-cranking exercise at 20%, 40%, and 60% of their maximal power output (Wmax), with and without an antigravity (anti-G) suit inflated to 52 mm Hg (1 psi). For P, higher preexercise systolic pressure (127 vs 117 mm Hg) was seen with the anti-G suit. At 40 and 60% Wmax, significantly lower heart rates (at 40% = 5.7%; at 60% = 10.6%) at similar cardiac outputs were seen for P with an anti-G suit. Although not significant, P also demonstrated higher stroke volumes at 40% (4.8%) and 60% (5.0%) Wmax with external pressure. For C, no differences in preexercise blood pressure or cardiovascular responses at all three exercise levels were seen with or without the anti-G suit. These data suggest that an inflated anti-G suit is able to prevent venous blood pooling and offers hemodynamic benefits in persons with paraplegia during submaximal arm-cranking exercise. In addition, this study reports a possible alternative to hosiery or functional neuromuscular stimulation that could be applied to all subjects with spinal cord injuries regardless of type or duration of the lesion or of muscle-atrophy.