U. Stockle et al., CONTINUOUS CRYOTHERAPY - AN IMPROVEMENT I N THE THERAPY OF POSTTRAUMATIC AND POSTOPERATIVE EDEMA, Der Unfallchirurg, 98(3), 1995, pp. 154-159
In patients with foot and ankle trauma, surgery and postoperative mobi
lization are often delayed owing to swelling. The aim of this study wa
s to assess whether continuous cryotherapy is better than standard the
rapy with intermittently applied cool packs. For continuous cryotherap
y the Polar Care Model 500 (BREG) was used. From May to November 1993,
a series of 40 patient (22 ankle fractures, 13 ruptured lateral ankle
ligaments, 4 calcaneus fractures, 1 metatarsal fracture) were prospec
tively randomized to continuous or intermittent cryotherapy. After 24
h treatment the patients with continuous cryotherapy showed an average
reduction of 34% in swelling around ankle, midfoot and forefoot. With
intermittent cryotherapy the swelling was reduced by 18%. After 4 day
s of treatment in the postoperative period the swelling subsided by 43
% with intermittent cryotherapy, as against 69% with continuous cryoth
erapy. Continuous cryotherapy proved to be highly effective in treatin
g posttraumatic and postoperative edema. It therefore seems preferable
to the therapy with cool packs regarded as standard hitherto.