Instrument Assisted Soft Tissue Mobilization Effect on Blood Flow

This study is designed to evaluate the short term change in blood flow in the superficial human tissue layers after the application of 3 min Graston instrumented assisted soft tissue mobilization on the plantar aspect of the foot and the trapezius muscle.

Instrument assisted soft tissue mobilization (IASTM) is a commonly used physical therapy intervention. Graston ® technique is a form of IASTM that requires completion of a certification course and utilizes specific stainless-steel tools. IASTM has been found to improve range of motion, pain and patient reported function in pathological individuals. One method by which these improvements are thought to occur is by increasing blood flow. Increased blood flow brings nutrients and oxygen to the area and is thought to contribute to tissue remodeling. There is very limited research investigating blood flow changes following IASTM. In order to measure blood flow changes following IASTM, doppler ultrasound may be used. There are no studies to our knowledge quantifying changes in blood flow following IASTM using ultrasound. Power doppler approximates perfusion by detecting a frequency shift from movement of red blood cells and color is then encoded proportionally to the number of red blood cells. Power doppler imaging quantification (PDIQ) is a feature of musculoskeletal ultrasound (MSK) that compares the number of color pixels and the intensity of color within these pixels to grey scale pixels within a given image. The aim of this study is to determine if there is an increase in blood flow in the trapezius, plantar fascia and medial arch of the foot measured following IASTM. Blood flow was measured by using PDIQ ratio in the doppler setting of MSK ultrasound.