Effects of NMES and Exercise in Hematological Cancer

Summary

Physical activity levels of adult hematologic cancer patients are deficient. The resulting physical inactivity causes fatigue, muscle loss, and deterioration in physical performance values. However, physical exercise programs still play a minor role in treating hematological malignancies. In addition, there are no reliable data in the literature regarding risk factors, feasibility, and exercise results in individuals with hematological malignancies. Although it is known that the use of corticosteroids, which are among the drugs given during chemotherapy, causes muscle weakness, there are no physical exercise programs performed with this patient group in the literature. The current study aims to compare the effects of resistance exercise and resistance exercise combined with neuromuscular electrical stimulation on muscle strength, functional lower extremity strength, and mobility in hematological cancer patients during chemotherapy.

Conditions

• Hematologic Malignancy
• Muscle Weakness

Interventions

DEVICE

Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation

Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation (NMES) is based on the principle of creating a contraction by stimulating the nerve fibers innervating the related muscle in the healthy muscle and the muscle fibers in the denervated muscle with electrical current. The electric currents used in stimulation of muscles and nerves perform this function by changing the electrical potential of cell membranes. It is contraindicated in pregnancy, presence of pacemaker, severe heart disease, epilepsy, fracture, dementia and impaired consciousness. We prevent contraindicated situations by excluding volunteer participants with these characteristics.

OTHER

Structured Exercise

Warm-up exercise, main training program and cool down exercise. Main training consists of resistance exercises to be applied with resistance bands of different resistance or with the patient's own body weight. Our prescribed training protocol includes 4-6 different exercises for each limb (bench press with resistance band, upper extremity proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation exercises, biceps/triceps curl, leg press, knee extension, 4-way hip motion, mini squat). Intensity, sets, and number of repetitions will be adapted to a target score between 12 and 14 using the Borg scale. It will be applied as low intensity, long-term passive stretching exercises to the pectoral, hamstring, and gastrosoleus muscle groups. Patients will perform 1 set of 10 repetitions of each resistance exercise determined by their level of fatigue. Resistance will be increased every three visits. If the patient complains of excessive fatigue, the resistance will be reduced to the previous level.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Medipol University

  collaborator OTHER

• Acibadem University

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Ant Uzay, MD · Acibadem Healthcare Group

• Fatma Mutluay, Prof · Medipol University

• Elif Es Safran, MSc · Acibadem University

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

65 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2021-02-08

Primary Completion

2021-11-30

Completion

2021-12-06

Countries

• Turkey (Türkiye)

Study Locations