Intermittent pneumatic compression

Intermittent pneumatic compression is a therapeutic technique used in medical devices that include an air pump and inflatable auxiliary sleeves, gloves or boots in a system designed to improve venous circulation in the limbs of patients who have edema or the risk of deep vein thrombosis (DVT), pulmonary embolism (PE), or the combination of DVT and PE which is venous thrombeombolism (VTE).^[1]

In use, an inflatable jacket (sleeve, glove, trousers or boot) encloses the limb requiring treatment, and pressure lines are connected between the jacket and the air pump. When activated, the pump fills the air chambers of the jacket in order to pressurize the tissues in the limb, thereby forcing fluids, such as blood and lymph, out of the pressurized area. A short time later, the pressure is reduced, allowing increased blood flow back into the limb.

The primary functional aim of the device "is to squeeze blood from the underlying deep veins, which, assuming that the valves [in those veins] are competent, will be displaced proximally." When the inflatable sleeves deflate, the veins will replenish with blood. The intermittent compressions of the sleeves will ensure the movement of venous blood.^[2]