Remote ischemic preconditioning; exposure of body parts to brief periods of circulatory occlusion and reperfusion has been found to increase exercise tolerance in healthy individuals. The current study aimed to look at feasibility of conducting a double blind randomised control trial of ischaemic preconditioning on exercise tolerance in patients with multiple sclerosis.

Twenty-three participants were randomly assigned to receive ischaemic preconditioning (12) or Sham intervention (11). The outcome measures were the 6-minute walking test and Borg's rating of perceived exertion.

All patients tolerated the intervention without any serious adverse events. The active group performed better on the 6minute walk after intervention (326.36 m±149.8) compared to baseline (316.82m±162.76) (P=0.297). The sham group did not show any improvement in the distance walked (310.45m±163.82) compared to baseline (301.45m±147.32) (P=1.00). The Borg's rating of perceived exertion did not change in active group (before 10.09±2.57; after 10.45±2.97, P=0.357) and worsened in control group (before 10.91±3.60; after 12.36±3.62, P=0.017).

It is feasible to conduct a double blind RCT using ischaemic preconditioning in patients with multiple sclerosis. The results suggested that ischaemic preconditioning may increase exercise tolerance in MS patients.