Overall Score: 5/5

Practicality: 5/5

EBP: 5/5

Marketability: 5/5

Over the weekend I attended Johnny Owens’ Blood Flow Restriction course and it was fantastic! I generally look for a couple of things in continuing education: 1. Practicality, 2. Evidence-based philosophy/techniques/etc. 3. A marketable skill for myself/ my clinic.

This course hit all three of those out of the park.

I went into this course with a fairly good grasp on blood flow restriction (or BFR) and was excited to get more of the practice side of the application. Honestly, I thought I was going to get a lot of practical application and a marketable skill for the clinic, however I was pleasantly surprised at the sheer volume of evidence presented at the course. I was actually shocked.

Johnny has as good of a grasp on the literature around BFR as any person on any topic I have ever seen present, it was almost unbelievable. Every relevant study, even some non-relevant ones were presented from memory… All the current studies happening, all the planned studies, the authors, the locations. It was truly impressive. Not only was Johnny’s handle on the literature impresssive but the actual literature itself was very well developed and persuasive.

BFR has been around for a long time and it is a powerful tool that effects multiple body systems. It is also fairly easy to study because it is an easily applied intervention and the outcome measures being studied are phsyiological, meaning blood work, imaging, etc. can reliable monitor changes. Because of this there has been a HUGE volume of work done (and currently being down) exploring some very well defined questions related to BFR.

The course was also very practical. We had lecture then we practiced using the Delphi BFR Units. Simple and to the point. The units are really easy to operate.

The course was about 8.5 hours long and could easily be stretched into a 2 day course but I’m glad it wasn’t just for time sake. The sheer amount of information presented is a little bit like drinking from a fire hose, especially around 3 or 4 o’clock when I was getting mentally tired BUT part of the cost of the course is a very detailed course manual that contains all of the information covered. I have already started re-reading the course manual to more fully understand the science behind BFR and it is actually written in a way that is easy to read.

Overall, the course was great. I believe with the volume and quality of evidence behind BFR that it will become a normal part of all outpatient rehabilitation, especially for clinics that see post-op patients. Johnny is a super nice guy and makes himself available to anyone that has been through his course.

One important thing to mention about the BFR as a whole is, because tourniques are powerful tools (why they are used in surgeries everyday to fully oclude blood flow), they can be very dangerous to apply. For this reason, the FDA classifies pneumatic tourniquets as Class 1 medical devices, meaning that a certification and medical license (PT license is included) are required to purchase and operate. The Delphi unit that Johnny distributes is actually the only FDA approved unit available in the market currently, so from a legal stand point as a clinician it is the only real option.