Ibrahim Talal, Ong Shong Meng, Saint Clair Taylor Grahame John
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, Glenfield Hospital, Groby Road, Leicester LE3 9QP, UK.
Knee. 2005 Jan;12(1):21-3. doi: 10.1016/j.knee.2004.02.006.
To assess the effect of different dressing types on the efficiency of cryotherapy.
Eighteen normal volunteers were divided equally into group 1-no dressing, group 2-thin adhesive dressing (tegaderm), and group 3--bulky dressing ("wool and crepe"). Cryotherapy (cryocuff and autochill) was applied to one knee with the other knee serving as control. Skin temperature was measured bilaterally every 5 min for 2 h. Statistical analysis used temperature differences between control and test knees.
The mean baseline skin temperature differences were not statistically different among the three groups (p=0.96). The mean skin temperature decreases at 2 h measured, 17 degrees C (S.D.=0.8) in group 1, 17 degrees C (S.D.=1.9) in group 2, and 5 degrees C (S.D.=1.4) in group 3. "Wool and crepe" significantly impaired the cooling effect of cryotherapy (p<0.001). Tegaderm showed no significant effect (p=0.6).
Wool and crepe dressings following knee surgery would prevent effective cryotherapy, whereas, thin adhesive dressings would not.
