BACKGROUND: The use of evaporative coolants in the management of acute musculoskeletal injury has received increasing attention recently. However, its efficacy compared with conventional cryotherapy in treating injured human subjects remains unclear. The purpose of this study is to compare the efficacy of evaporative coolants with that of ice packs in preoperative management of edema and pain in patients with an ankle fracture.
METHODS: Sixty-three patients in need of surgical treatment for ankle fracture were randomly assigned to either an evaporative coolant group or an ice pack group. Both treatments were applied for 5 days after injury and outcomes were measured daily. The primary outcome was a reduction in edema as measured by the figure-of-eight-20 method and the secondary outcome was measured by visual analog scale (VAS) for pain.
RESULTS: Two-way analysis of variance with repeated measures showed no significant group effect and no significant group-by-time interaction in terms of reduction of edema and VAS score for pain between two groups. No adverse effects were reported in either group.
CONCLUSIONS: Evaporative coolants exhibited comparable efficacy to ice packs in preoperative cryotherapy of ankle fractures without adverse effects. While evaporative coolants are more expensive than ice packs, they can present a viable option for cryotherapy.
METHODS: Level I, prospective randomized study.

暂无摘要。

BACKGROUND: Many researchers have investigated the effectiveness of different types of cold application, including cold whirlpools, ice packs, and chemical packs. However, few have investigated the effectiveness of different types of ice used in ice packs, even though ice is one of the most common forms of cold application.
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate and compare the cooling effectiveness of ice packs made with cubed, crushed, and wetted ice on intramuscular and skin surface temperatures.
METHODS: Repeated-measures counterbalanced design.
METHODS: Human performance research laboratory.
METHODS: Twelve healthy participants (6 men, 6 women) with no history of musculoskeletal disease and no known preexisting inflammatory conditions or recent orthopaedic injuries to the lower extremities.
METHODS: Ice packs made with cubed, crushed, or wetted ice were applied to a standardized area on the posterior aspect of the right gastrocnemius for 20 minutes. Each participant was given separate ice pack treatments, with at least 4 days between treatment sessions.
METHODS: Cutaneous and intramuscular (2 cm plus one-half skinfold measurement) temperatures of the right gastrocnemius were measured every 30 seconds during a 20-minute baseline period, a 20-minute treatment period, and a 120-minute recovery period.
RESULTS: Differences were observed among all treatments. Compared with the crushed-ice treatment, the cubed-ice and wetted-ice treatments produced lower surface and intramuscular temperatures. Wetted ice produced the greatest overall temperature change during treatment and recovery, and crushed ice produced the smallest change.
CONCLUSIONS: As administered in our protocol, wetted ice was superior to cubed or crushed ice at reducing surface temperatures, whereas both cubed ice and wetted ice were superior to crushed ice at reducing intramuscular temperatures.