NCT03968068

Exercise and RIC and TCD

Completed NA Last updated 3 January 2024

What this trial tests

NA trial testing Exercise Procedure in Stroke, Acute in 10 participants. Completed in 31 December 2021.

Timeline

7 June 2019

Primary endpoint
31 December 2021

31 December 2021

Quick facts

Lead sponsor	Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Phase	NA
Status	Completed
Study type	INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation	non randomized
Design	parallel
Masking	none
Primary purpose	prevention
Enrollment	10
Start date	7 June 2019
Primary completion	31 December 2021
Estimated completion	31 December 2021
Sites	1 location across United Kingdom

Drugs / interventions tested

• Exercise Procedure
• Remote Ischaemic Conditioning

Conditions studied

• Stroke, Acute — all drugs for Stroke, Acute →

Sponsor

Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Who can join

18 and older, any sex, with Stroke, Acute. Patients with the condition only — healthy volunteers not accepted.

Sponsor's own description

The first week after a stroke is a particularly important time, as improving blood flow may limit secondary ischaemic damage to the brain and help reduce the overall burden neurological injury and future disability.

Small studies in patients with stroke have shown that moderate aerobic exercise increases blood flow to the brain, however, no studies have evaluated the safety of aerobic exercise within the first week after stroke, nor whether it results in changes to cerebral blood flow.

Remote ischaemic conditioning (RIC) is when ischaemia is induced to a limb for short periods of time by inflating pressure cuffs around arms or legs to above systolic pressures (mmHg). This procedure is performed for periods that avoid physical injury to the limbs, but induce neurohormonal, systemic or vascular changes in the body. These changes often result in improved blood supply to various areas of the body. The use of RIC in the acute period after stroke is currently being investigated in a number of large randomised controlled trials e.g. RECAST, RESIST, however, our understanding of how RIC actually works is incomplete. Importantly, there is scarce data on the acute effects of RIC on cerebral blood flow (CBF), a potentially pivotal mechanism behind its effects.

We propose an exploratory study to evaluate whether it is feasible, acceptable and safe to undertake low and moderate intensity aerobic exercise or remote ischaemic conditioning (RIC) in patients during the acute period after stroke, and whether either of these interventions result in changes to cerebral blood flow velocity (CBFv) in the major cerebral arteries. We will compare any changes to those in a cohort of healthy volunteers.

Publications & conference data

1 peer-reviewed publication reference this trial (live from Europe PMC):

1. Remote ischaemic conditioning for stroke: unanswered questions and future directions.
   Baig S, Moyle B, Nair KPS, Redgrave J, et al · · 2021 · cited 15× · PMID 33903181 · DOI 10.1136/svn-2020-000722