LAUSR

What is the central question of this study? What are the effects of the menstrual (early follicular and mid‐luteal) or monophasic oral contraceptive (inactive‐ and active‐pill) cycle phases on vascular reperfusion of lower limb microvasculature in healthy, active women using the near‐infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) vascular occlusion test (VOT) technique? What is the main finding and its importance? We demonstrated that vascular responsiveness in the lower limb microvasculature remained unchanged between the early follicular and mid‐luteal phases of the menstrual cycle and inactive‐ and active‐pill phases of the oral contraceptive cycle. These data support that controlling for the cycle phases, within the specific times evaluated in this study, might not be necessary when assessing NIRS‐VOT reperfusion rates.