Lange Uwe, Uhlemann Christine, Müller-Ladner Ulf
Abteilung Rheumatologie, Klinische Immunologie, Physikalische Medizin und Osteologie (Innere Medizin mit Schwerpunkt Rheumatologie, Justus-Liebig-Universität Giessen), Kerckhoff-Klinik, Bad Nauheim.
Med Klin (Munich). 2008 Jun 15;103(6):383-8. doi: 10.1007/s00063-008-1056-5.
Local as well as whole-body cryotherapy is used to relieve pain and inflammation in rheumatic diseases. In comparison with a chamber-based whole-body cryotherapy, the novel criostream whole-body therapy (single-person cabin with cold air cooled by liquid nitrogen) as an innovative technique offers not only a rapid therapeutic effect but also a considerable reduction in costs. The aim of this study was to compare the effect of whole-body cryotherapy in the criostream on pain reduction, disease activity and pro-inflammatory cytokines (tumor necrosis factor-[TNF-]alpha and interleukin-[IL-]1), and improvement in functional scores.
Ten patients with different active inflammatory rheumatic diseases (four patients with rheumatoid arthritis, three patients with ankylosing spondylitis, and three patients with psoriatic arthritis/spondylitis) underwent nine sessions of whole-body cryotherapy in 5 days for a short time period (at first 90 s, with step-up in each application to 2.5 min total time).
Pain and disease activity scores decreased significantly, and, subsequently, also the functional scores showed a significant amelioration. Furthermore, there was a significant reduction in TNF-alpha (p < 0.01) and IL-1 (p < 0.05). Side effects were reported only after the first application in two cases (headache and sensation of cold).
The criostream offers an elegant and, from the patient's point of view, attractive therapeutic agent in the multimodal treatment concept for inflammatory rheumatic diseases.
局部及全身冷冻疗法用于缓解风湿性疾病的疼痛和炎症。与基于舱室的全身冷冻疗法相比，新型的criostream全身疗法（单人舱，采用液氮冷却冷空气）作为一种创新技术，不仅能迅速产生治疗效果，还能大幅降低成本。本研究旨在比较criostream全身冷冻疗法在减轻疼痛、疾病活动度及促炎细胞因子（肿瘤坏死因子-α和白细胞介素-1）方面的效果，以及功能评分的改善情况。
10例患有不同活动性炎性风湿性疾病的患者（4例类风湿关节炎患者、3例强直性脊柱炎患者和3例银屑病关节炎/脊柱炎患者）在5天内接受了9次全身冷冻疗法，每次治疗时间较短（最初90秒，每次递增至总时间2.5分钟）。
疼痛和疾病活动度评分显著降低，随后功能评分也显著改善。此外，肿瘤坏死因子-α（p < 0.01）和白细胞介素-1（p < 0.05）显著降低。仅在首次治疗后有2例报告出现副作用（头痛和寒冷感）。
在炎性风湿性疾病的多模式治疗理念中，criostream提供了一种从患者角度来看优雅且有吸引力的治疗手段。
