A systematic review including 7 studies with a total of 230 subjects was abstracted in DARE. Six of the seven studies demonstrated one or more physiological and/or clinical post-treatment improvements over and above the control conditions. The benefits recorded included attenuation of muscle atrophy; normalisation of protein turnover; increases in maximal force generating capacity; reduced knee extensor lag; decreased hospitalisation; functional improvements; and decreased pain.
Comment: methodological quality of studies was generally poor with small sample sizes and flawed allocation procedures.