EECP treatment is an outpatient treatment that stretches to 35 hours. This period is broken into every day one hour periods spread over six days a week.

The patient is made to lie on a comfortable table and large blood pressure-like cuffs (used commonly in instruments measuring blood pressure!) are wrapped around the legs and buttocks. These cuffs inflate and deflate at specific intervals between heart beats. A continuous electro cardiogram (ECG) is used to set the timing of inflation and deflation. The cuffs will inflate when the heart is at rest and they deflate at the end of the rest period. Special sensors check the oxygen level in the blood continuously and also the pressure waves created by the inflations and deflations.

Preparation for EECP treatment

There is no special preparation for EECP, since it is an out-patient, non-invasive procedure. The basic precautions are

• Patients are advice to avoid taking food two hours before the treatment.
• It is better for patients to have an empty bladder before starting the treatment.
• Any diuretic medication should be avoided before the time of treatment on that day.
• Regular medication as prescribed by the physician must be continued.

Because the cuffs will be tightly wrapped around the legs, thighs and buttocks, patients will have to wear tight-fitting pants, in order to prevent abrasion of the skin

EECP treatment has delivered highly visible and viable results and the reliability of the EECP procedure has been confirmed by scientific studies.