Physical exercise for the treatment of non-ulcerated chronic venous insufficiency
Chronic venous disease, physical therapy, systematic review.
Chronic venous insufficiency (CVI) is characterized by functional abnormalities of the venous system resulting in changes in skin and subcutaneous tissue. Physical alterations related to CVI occur mainly in the lower limbs and are consequence of valvular insufficiency or venous obstruction, resulting in long-term venous hypertension due to venous stasis in the lower limbs. The disease can progress to a phase where subcutaneous alterations become evident and develop into a venous leg ulcer. Interventions that can improve the disease or reduce its progress are desirable. Exercise modalities have been prescribed for the treatment of peripheral vascular disease from different aetiologies, however, exercise prescription for CVI is not very well established and there is no up-to-date systematic review available to assess the effects of exercise on non-ulcerated CVI. The aim of this study is to assess and summarise the existing clinical evidence on the effectiveness and safety of physical exercise programmes for the treatment of non-ulcerated CVI. The search will be conducted by The Cochrane Peripheral Vascular Diseases Group Trials Search Co-ordinator according to the Specialised Register and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL). We will include randomised controlled trials where an exercise programme was used as the main or adjunctive treatment for non-ulcerated CVI in patients regardless of sex and ethnicity. We will present a narrative overview of the combined studies with a meta-analysis of outcome data using the software Review Manager (RevMan) 5.2 where appropriate.