Effects of Blood Flow Restriction at Different Intensities on IOP and Ocular Perfusion Pressure

SIGNIFICANCE The use of blood flow restriction allows obtaining beneficial physical adaptions when combined with low-intensity exercise or even when used alone. We found that using blood flow restriction may be a potential strategy to avoid IOP and ocular perfusion pressure fluctuations provoked by strength and endurance training. PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to assess the influence of bilateral blood flow restriction in the upper and lower body at two different intensities on IOP and ocular perfusion pressure, as well as the possible sex differences. METHODS Twenty-eight physically active university students (14 men and 14 women) took part in the study, and blood flow restriction was bilaterally applied with two pressures in the legs and arms. There were five experimental conditions (control, legs-high, legs-low, arms-high, and arms-low). IOP was measured by rebound tonometry before, during (every 4 seconds), and immediately after blood flow restriction. Ocular perfusion pressure was measured before and after blood flow restriction. RESULTS We found that only the arms-high condition promoted a statistically significant IOP rise when compared with the rest of the experimental conditions (all Bayes factors(10), >100; effect sizes, 1.18, 1.06, 1.35, and 1.73 for the control, arms-low, legs-high, and legs-low conditions, respectively). For ocular perfusion pressure, there was strong evidence for the null hypothesis regarding the type of blood flow restriction (Bayes factor(10), 0.012); however, men showed an ocular perfusion pressure reduction after blood flow restriction in the arms-high condition (Bayes factor(10), 203.24; effect size, 1.41). CONCLUSIONS This study presents preliminary evidence regarding the safety of blood flow restriction in terms of ocular health. Blood flow restriction may be considered as an alternative training strategy to reduce abrupt fluctuations in IOP and ocular perfusion pressure because its use permits a considerable reduction of exercise intensity.