EECP

[paulh]

can EECP be damaaging to your health?


This discussion is related to EECP.

[kenkeith]

It is recommended for patients in the later stages of heart failure who would not receive any benefit from a by-pass, and a by-pass is too risky.  EECP does not involve much  risk as it is non-interventional.  

[ireneo]

How is that different from what they use during surgery? I recently had surgery (abdominal) and my doctor explained that during surgery they would have cuffs on my legs that would inflate and deflate similar to a BP cuff to avoid blood clots. Has anyone else had this done on them during surgery? True - I have multiple arrhythmias but not heart disease.

[kenkeith]

The difference is cycle time, duration of pulsation, etc.

With EECP therapy, pressure like-cuffs are wrapped around legs and buttocks, and inflate and deflate at specific times between heartbeats....continuous EKG times procedure so the cuffs inflate when heart is at rest when it normally gets its supply of blood and oxygen.  The cuffs deflate at the end of the rest period, just before the next heart bea.  Special sensor applied to the individual's finger monitors oxygen level  and the pressure waves created y the cuff inflation and deflation.

With acute care, pumps are primarily used in the acute hospital setting for the treatment of blood clots. The pump simulates regular walking-like activities by altering leg compression. The standard pump has a cycle time of 12 seconds of inflation and 48 seconds of deflation. The cycle timing provides effective movement of venous blood out of the limb, while allowing adequate time for venous refill prior to the next inflation cycle. The recommended pressure setting is 40 mmHg.

[ireneo]

You're a whiz at this stuff. Thank you so much. Funny that they used the leg pumpers for a 2 hour surgery but not for my catheter ablations, one of which took 6 hours plus lay-flat -on-your-back time, another 6 hours.