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 suffer edema

Edema

Edema or oedema ; both words from the Greek , oídēma "swelling"), formerly known as dropsy or hydropsy, is an abnormal accumulation of fluid beneath the skin or in one or more cavities of the body that produces swelling...

 or the risk of deep vein thrombosis

Deep vein thrombosis

Deep vein thrombosis is the formation of a blood clot in a deep vein. Deep vein thrombosis commonly affects the leg veins or the deep veins of the pelvis. Occasionally the veins of the arm are affected...

 (DVT).

In use, an inflatable jacket (sleeve, glove 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 devices can be categorized as either uniform pressure or Sequential compression device

Sequential compression device

Sequential compression device, abbreviated SCD, is an improved type of intermittent pneumatic compression system that includes inflatable compression sleeves and a characteristic pressure modulation in order to reduce risk of clot formation, such as deep vein thrombosis, in the legs of hospitalized...

, depending on how the pressure in the inflatable jacket is modulated.