Department of Physical Therapy, Federal University of São Carlos , São Carlos, SP, Brazil.
J Sports Sci Med. 2006 Jun 1;5(2):228-34. eCollection 2006.
Although cryotherapy associated to compression is recommended as immediate treatment after muscle injury, the effect of intermittent sessions of these procedures in the area of secondary muscle injury is not established. This study examined the effect of three sessions of cryotherapy (30 min of ice pack each 2h) and muscle compression (sand pack) in the muscle-injured area. Twenty-four Wistar rats (312 ± 20g) were evaluated. In three groups, the middle belly of tibialis anterior (TA) muscle was injured by a frozen iron bar and received one of the following treatments: a) three sessions of cryotherapy; b) three sessions of compression; c) not treated. An uninjured group received sessions of cryotherapy. Frozen muscles were cross- sectioned (10 µm) and stained for the measurement of injured and uninjured muscle area. Injured muscles submitted to cryotherapy showed the smallest injured area (29.83 ± 6.6%), compared to compressed (39.2 ± 2.8%, p= 0.003) and untreated muscles (41.74 ± 4.0%, p = 0.0008). No difference was found between injured compressed and injured untreated muscles. In conclusion, three intermittent sessions of cryotherapy applied immediately after muscle damage was able to reduce the secondary muscle injury, while only the muscle compression did not provide the same effectiveness. Key PointsThree sessions of cryotherapy (30 min each 2 hours) applied immediately after muscle damage reduce the secondary muscle injury.Sessions of compression applied after muscle damage are not able to reduce the secondary muscle injury.
尽管在肌肉损伤后立即进行冷疗联合压迫被推荐为即刻治疗方法，但间歇性应用这些方法治疗继发性肌肉损伤的效果尚未确定。本研究旨在观察 3 次冷疗（每次冰袋 30 分钟，每 2 小时 1 次）和肌肉压迫（沙袋）在损伤肌肉区域的效果。共纳入 24 只 Wistar 大鼠（312±20g）。在 3 组中，通过冷冻铁棍使胫骨前肌（TA）中段肌肉受伤，并分别接受以下治疗：a）3 次冷疗；b）3 次压迫；c）不治疗。未受伤的一组接受冷疗。对冰冻肌肉进行横切（10 µm）并染色，以测量受伤和未受伤的肌肉面积。与接受压迫（39.2±2.8%，p=0.003）和未治疗（41.74±4.0%，p=0.0008）的肌肉相比，接受冷疗的受伤肌肉显示出最小的受伤面积（29.83±6.6%）。受伤后接受压迫和未治疗的肌肉之间无差异。结论：在肌肉损伤后立即应用 3 次间歇性冷疗可减少继发性肌肉损伤，而仅应用压迫则无法达到相同的效果。关键点在肌肉损伤后立即应用 3 次冷疗（每次 30 分钟，每 2 小时 1 次）可减少继发性肌肉损伤。在肌肉损伤后应用压迫治疗无法减少继发性肌肉损伤。
