Efficacy of Compressive Stockings versus Electrical Stimulations in Improving Maximal Walking Distance in Peripheral Vascular Disease Patients? A comparative study

Compressive stockings with Buerger’s exercise provide themrequired pressure and thereby improve the circulation peripherally. This aids in the reduction of ischaemic pain of the calf muscle in peripheral vascular disease patients. Electrical stimulations with Buerger’s exercise are also believed to reduce pain in the peripheral vascular disease patients by improving the collateral circulation and thereby improving the blood supply. A study was carried out between both the modalities to know the efficacy of one over the other. A sample of 40 individuals randomly divided into two groups, Group A and Group B, consisting 20 patients each (n=20), was involved in the study. At the end of study, statistical significance was achieved for compressive stockings over electrical stimulations in improving the maximal walking distance (MWD) in peripheral vascular disease patients. Inclusion and exclusion criteria along with the accepted clinical procedures were followed for methodology and tests for conducting the study. The MWD and the level of pain on Visual Analog Scale (VAS) were used as the objective and subjective outcome measures, respectively. The statistical significance using the t-test was achieved to be P<0.05 (value of t at 5% significance and 38 degrees of freedom for the mean was 2.021) for both the outcome measures after calculating their means and standard deviations.