Daily calf stretching at home for people with peripheral artery disease
Tests inflatable ankle splints that stretch the calf in people with peripheral artery disease.
Key facts
- Who runs it
- Penn State University
- Where
- University Park, United StatesSee the site
- Trial code
- Registry title
- Passive Calf Stretching Therapy in Peripheral Artery Disease
- Status
- Recruiting
- People taking part
- 24 people, planned
- Started
- 1 Apr 2024
- Expected to end
- Dec 2027
- Type of study
- Interventional, 2 groupsOne group gets no study treatment, for comparison.
- Treatments tested
- Passive calf muscle stretching device
- Record updated
- 2 October 2026
Who can take part
AI summary
From the trial's eligibility criteria. Machine-read from the registry text on this page, so it can be wrong. The registry text below and the trial team decide who can take part.
The trial is looking for adults with peripheral artery disease (PAD), a narrowing of the leg arteries. Their PAD symptoms must have been stable for at least 3 months.
- Age
- 40 to 85 years
- Sex
- Men and women can join. Women who are pregnant or nursing cannot join.
- Disease stage
- PAD with symptoms that have been stable for at least 3 months. People with leg pain at rest, ulcers or gangrene cannot join.
- Earlier treatment
- No major surgery or leg artery surgery (revascularization) in the past 6 months. No ankle reconstruction or ankle surgery ever.
- Biomarker or test result
- People with stiff arteries that cannot be compressed (ABI > 1.40) cannot join.
Main reasons for not taking part
- Leg pain at rest, ulcers or gangrene from poor blood flow
- Heart attack in the past 6 months or unstable chest pain (unstable angina)
- Severe lung disease, current smoking or use of nicotine products
- Regular exercise (30 minutes of continuous activity on 3 or more days per week)
- Unable to walk on a treadmill at 1.0 mile/hour, or another condition that limits walking
The registry criteria, word for word
Show all 19 criteriaShow less
Who can take part
- Presence of PAD
- Stable condition (PAD symptoms) for at least 3 months
- Age 40-85
- Men and women who are not pregnant or nursing
Who cannot take part
- Major surgery or lower extremity revascularization surgery in the past 6 months
- History or ankle reconstruction or surgery Recent history (<1 year) of injuries to the ankle, Achilles tendon, or feet
- Major medical illness treatment during the prior 12 months
- Any condition other than PAD that limits the ability to walk
- Myocardial infarction within past 6 months or unstable angina
- Severe lung disease (on supplemental oxygen or frequently use rescue inhalers)
- History of rheumatoid arthritis or other degenerative joint disease
- Uncontrolled hypertension
- Uncontrolled diabetes
- Ischemic leg pain at rest; critical limb ischemia (ulceration or gangrene)
- Participants with non-compressible vessels (ABI > 1.40)
- Habitual exercise (30 minutes of continuous activity on 3 or more days per week)
- Current tobacco smoker or use of nicotine-containing products
- Pregnant or nursing women
- Inability to walk on a treadmill at a slow pace (1.0 mile/hour)
Check if you might fit
Answer for yourself. This is not a decision: only the study team can say whether you can take part.
- Are you between 40 and 85 years old?
Where in United States
- Penn State UniversityUniversity Park, United StatesContact: David N Proctor, Ph.D.Taking people
About the trial
What the trial wants to find out
The goal of this clinical trial is to assess the effects of passive calf muscle stretching in patients diagnosed with peripheral artery disease (PAD). The main question it aims to answer are:
Read full original descriptionShow less
1. To determine if daily calf muscle stretching at home improves calf muscle and vascular health. 2. To determine if daily calf muscle stretching at home improves walking performance.
Participants will use inflatable ankle splints for 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week for 4-weeks on both days and 4-weeks of no stretching.
The 2 groups in the trial
- 4-weeks of passive calf stretching for 30 minutes 5 days a weekTreatment being tested
A modified plantar fasciitis ankle splint will be used to passively stretch the calf muscle.
Treatment: Passive calf muscle stretching device
- 4-weeks of no-stretchingNo study treatment, for comparison
No device will be used to stretch the calf muscle. Participants will go about their normal daily activity for 4-weeks.
Questions to ask the study team
- How often do I need to come in, and for how long each time?
- Are travel costs paid?
- Can I keep my own doctor?
- What happens if I want to stop?
Contact the study team: see the registry record → Contacts and Locations
Print a page for my doctorData and sources
- Registry record
- Listed on ClinicalTrials.gov.
- Official title
- To Stretch, Not Strain: Impact of Passive Stretching on Calf Muscle and Gait Mechanics in PAD
- Plain-language title
- Daily calf stretching at home for people with peripheral artery diseaseGenerated from the registry record. The registry title is the official one.
- AI summary
- From the trial's eligibility criteria. Read by machine on 14 November 2026.
- Fit questions
- Built from NCT06041880, who can take part
- Record updated
- 2 October 2026