Does intermittent pneumatic compression improve symptoms of delayed onset muscle soreness in healthy adults: a study protocol of a randomized controlled trial

Abstract

Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) is a frequent post-exercise condition characterized by micro-lesions, inflammation or metabolite accumulation within the skeletal muscles and the surrounding tissues. Intermittent Pneumatic Compression (IPC) is often used to treat DOMS and the benefits of this device remain unclear. The main aim of this study will be to evaluate the effectiveness of intermittent pneumatic compression related to strength in lower limb delayed onset muscle soreness in healthy adults. The study will be a two-arm double blind parallel randomized controlled trial (RCT) with one intervention group and one control group in a single-centre in Spain. Voluntary male and female healthy adults will be enrolled into the study for 5 days. Only the researcher dedicated to the randomization and the physiotherapist in charge of the IPC treatment will not be blinded. After the randomization process, the interventional group will receive a massage therapy session followed by an IPC session whereas the control group will receive a massage therapy session followed by a sham IPC session. Following baseline measurement, DOMS induction and treatment for each group, strength will be measured using an isokinetic dynamometry device as well as a Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) for soreness scoring. The primary outcome of this study will be strength measured with an isokinetic dynamometry device and the secondary outcome will be perceived soreness in healthy adult lower limb DOMS at 24, 48, 72 and 96 hours. Data will be analyzed using a one-way repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) with Dunnett’s multiple comparison tests to compare post-treatment values to the baseline value.