Summary

Ankle exercise increases venous blood velocity while supine, but the effect of ankle exercise on venous blood velocity while sitting is not known. In this investigation, we test the hypothesis that venous blood velocity can be increased while sitting by repetitive dorsiflexion of the foot. Time-averaged peak velocity (TAPV) in the popliteal vein of 20 healthy male volunteers was measured by pulsed Doppler ultrasound at rest and during ankle exercise in the supine and sitting positions. Right popliteal vein TAPV while supine at rest was 11 cm/second (sec) (95% confidence interval [CI] =9–13 cm/sec) and with ankle exercise it increased to 24 cm/sec (95% CI =20–28 cm/sec) (p<0.0001). With sitting at rest, right popliteal vein blood TAPV decreased from 11 cm/sec to 3 cm/sec (95% CI = 2–4 cm/sec) (p<0.0001). With ankle exercise while sitting, right popliteal vein TAPV increased to 18 cm/sec (95% CI =15–21 cm/sec) (p<0.0001). In conclusion, in both the supine and sitting positions, ankle exercise increased venous blood velocity, thereby transiently reducing a tendency toward venous stasis. Such ankle exercise might be useful in the prevention of stasis-induced deep venous thrombosis.