Enhanced External Counterpulsation (EECP)

Nearly seven million people in the United States suffer from severe chest pain. Yet, according to a study published in the Journal of Investigative Medicine, many of these angina patients may experience an improved quality of life by receiving short-term EECP. In fact, EECP has been shown to increase exercise tolerance, eliminate or decrease chest pain, and reduce the need for anti-angina medication.

So how does it work? EECP simply describes what happens during treatment. It is external because it occurs outside the body and doesn’t require surgery. Counterpulsation means that the EECP system pumps when the heart rests and stops pumping when the heart beats. The counterpulsation boosts blood flow and decreases the heart’s workload. It also creates greater oxygen supply and less oxygen demand.

During EECP, patients lie comfortably on a padded table in a designated treatment room at the Borgess Health & Fitness Center. Cuffs are wrapped around the calves, thighs and buttocks. These cuffs (much like blood pressure cuffs) attach to air hoses that inflate and deflate them. You will not feel any pain throughout the process. However, you will feel the sensation of a strong “hug” moving upward from the calves to the thighs to the buttocks. The “hug” is followed by a rapid release of pressure as the cuffs deflate. Inflation and deflation are electronically synchronized with individual heartbeats.

While you receive treatment, you may listen to music via headphones, watch TV or even sleep. Patients undergoing EECP require at least 35 hours of treatment. Visiting the Borgess Health & Fitness Center for one hour, five times per week over seven weeks normally completes the EECP treatment.

For more information, call our dedicated hotline at (269) 552-2218. To learn more about cardiac care available at Borgess, call (269) 226-8135 or 1(800) 828-8135.