Cooling efficiency of 4 common cryotherapeutic agents.

CONTEXT

Cryotherapy is the application of cold as a treatment. It is widely used and accepted as beneficial in early management of soft tissue injury. However, the most efficient cryotherapeutic agent remains unknown.

OBJECTIVE

To compare 4 common cryotherapeutic agents including crushed ice (CI), gel pack (GP), frozen peas (FP), and ice-water immersion (WI) and to determine which agent provided the greatest cooling efficiency after a 20-minute application.

DESIGN

Repeated-measures design.

SETTING

University physiology laboratory.

PATIENTS OR OTHER PARTICIPANTS

Nine healthy volunteers participated (5 males, 4 females; age = 24.0 +/- 4.6 years, height = 1.73 +/- 0.24 m, mass = 79.9 +/- 24.1 kg).

INTERVENTION(S): The CI, GP, FP, and WI were applied to the right ankle for 20 minutes. Participants were required to attend 1 measurement session for each agent.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): We recorded skin surface temperature of the right ankle at a sampling rate of 1 image/min, using a thermal imaging camera during a 30-minute rewarming period.

RESULTS

Application of CI produced a significantly greater reduction in skin surface temperature (19.56 +/- 3.78 degrees C) than GP (13.19 +/- 5.07 degrees C) and FP (14.59 +/- 4.22 degrees C) ( P < .001). The CI and WI demonstrated significantly ( P < .001) greater cooling efficiency than GP and FP.

CONCLUSIONS

The CI and WI had the greatest cooling efficiency and sustained decreased skin surface temperatures postapplication, indicating these agents are potentially the most clinically beneficial.