Effect of Local Cold Therapy on Arterial Blood Oxygen Saturation and Temperature Changes in Patients Undergoing Surgery

Background: Postoperative complications can endanger the patient's life and disrupt the recovery process if not properly managed. Local cold therapy can be a safe non-pharmacologic method to manage these side effects; however, it has not been highly considered. Objectives: This study was done to determine the effect of local cold therapy on arterial blood oxygen saturation and temperature changes in patients undergoing surgery. Methods: This quasi-experimental study was performed at Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences in 2019 on 60 patients undergoing thoracic and abdominal surgery selected by convenience sampling, and they were randomly assigned to the intervention and control groups. The intervention (local cold therapy) was performed for 48 hours after full consciousness, three times a day for 20 minutes to the intervention group. Data were collected before and after the intervention using a demographic questionnaire, pulse oximetry device, and thermometer. The data were analyzed based on the independent samples t-test, paired-samples t-test, and chi-square and Fishers’ exact tests by SPSS version 20 software. Results: The mean arterial blood oxygen saturation percentage (O2Sat%) during the intervention significantly increased in both groups (P < 0.05), but the rate of increase was significantly higher in the local cold group (P < 0.05). The results of within-group research showed that the mean temperature had significant differences in the local cold therapy group (P < 0.05), but the mean body temperature did not show a significant difference between the two groups (P < 0.05). Conclusions: Local cold therapy can be effectively trained and used by nurses to improve the O2Sat%. It did not affect postoperative body temperature. Further studies must be conducted to investigate the effects of local cold therapy on postoperative body temperature changes.

Is Intracanal Cryotherapy Effective in Reducing Postoperative Endodontic Pain? An Updated Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Clinical Trials

This research aimed to assess the potency of intracanal cold therapy in diminishing postoperative endodontic pain. PubMed, Scopus, the Cochrane Library, EMBASE, the Web of Science, grey literature, and endodontic journals were used to identify randomized controlled clinical trials evaluating postoperative pain after a final irrigation with a cold irrigant (as an experimental group) and a room temperature irrigant (as a control group). The risk of bias was rated according to the Cochrane Collaboration’s tool and the Grading Recommendation Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) system was used to estimate the evidence quality. For the meta-analysis, a random effects model was utilized. The qualitative analysis contained 16 studies and the quantitative analysis contained 9 studies. The experimental groups showed a reduction in postoperative pain at 6 h (mean difference (MD) = −1.11; p = 0.0004; I2 = 72%; low quality evidence), 24 h (MD = −1.08; p = 0.003; I2 = 92%; low quality evidence), 48 h (MD = −0.38; p = 0.04; I2 = 81%; low quality evidence), and 72 h (MD = −0.69; p = 0.04; I2 = 90%; low quality evidence). A higher quality of evidence from more clinical trials is needed.

EFEKTIVITAS CRYOTHERAPY TERHADAP TINGKAT NYERI PUNGGUNG BAWAH IBU POSTPARTUM PADA MASA PANDEMI COVID-19

Low back pain is one of the complaints felt by some and almost all postpartum mothers since pregnancy. Low back pain occurs in 45-55% of mothers in the first week postpartum, continues at 8 weeks postpartum as much as 68% and 60% in the next 8 months. Persistent pain causes inhibition of maternal activities and reduces quality of life. One type of complementary therapy is cryotherapy cold therapy with ice. Cold therapy is a therapeutic modality that can absorb tissue temperature so that there is a decrease in tissue temperature through the conduction mechanism. The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of cryoptherapy on low back pain in postpartum mothers during home care during the COVID-19 pandemic. This type of research is a pre-experimental design with One Group Pretest-Posttest with a sample of 22 early postpartum mothers (24 hours to 1 week after delivery). Data were analyzed using paired t test. The results showed that the average pain scale before being given cryotherapy was 6.82 with a standard deviation of 0.907, the average self-efficacy after being given cryotherapy was 3.96 with a standard deviation of 0.64. There was a difference in the mean value between before and after the cryotherapy intervention was given with p-value = 0.002 (p<0.05). It is hoped that health services can use cryotherapy as a therapy to reduce postpartum maternal back pain.

Comparison of kinesio taping and cold therapy in patients with total knee arthroplasty: A randomized controlled trial

Objective To investigate the effects of kinesio taping and cold therapy on pain, edema, range of motion, muscle strength, functional level and quality of life in patients with total knee arthroplasty. Design Randomised controlled trial. Setting A university hospital. Subjects One-hundred patients were included. Intervention Patients were allocated into three groups; control group, kinesio group and cold therapy group. The control group received a standard rehabilitation program. Kinesio taping group received two fan-shaped kinesio taping bands and cold therapy group received cold packs in addition to the standard rehabilitation program. Main measures The outcome measures were pain, edema, range of motion, muscle strength, functional level and quality of life. Participants were assessed at preoperative, discharge and postoperative third month. Results The groups were similar at preoperative. A significant difference was determined in terms of pain in kinesio taping group compared to the control group at the discharge. Cold therapy was efficient in reducing postoperative swelling but kinesio taping had no significant effects on swelling control. There was no difference between the groups in terms of range of motion, muscle strength, functional level and quality of life. The groups were similar in all parameters at the postoperative third month measurements. Conclusion Fan-shaped kinesio taping is an effective technique in terms of postoperative pain relief. Cold therapy is an effective method in terms of edema control. Kinesio taping and cold therapy has no specific beneficial effect on functional level, muscle strength and quality of life compared to control group.

A three-dimensional model of transient bioheat transfer in the lower extremity during cryotherapy

The purpose of this research was to create a computational model of the human thigh undergoing cryotherapy. The tissue temperatures were measured for five cold pack temperatures of −8°C, −4°C, 0°C, 4°C, and 8°C in addition to six different time intervals of cold application and ice removal. The depth of cold penetration and duration of local tissue cooling were investigated at 10 points during 30 min of application and 7 h of post-application. The model was created in CATIA, using a mid-axial cut of the human thigh MRI without pathology. After validation by the available clinical data, this research applied the finite-volume discretization method to solve bioheat transfer equations. A 16°C decrease in the cold pack temperature reduced the tissue temperatures located 1 and 2 cm below the fat by almost 3.34°C and 1.4°C, respectively, after 30 min of cold application. It took the tissues 10–15 min to start cooling down, and the temperature reached its plateau after 100 min. Thirty minutes of cold application declined the superficial tissue and deep tissue temperatures near the bone by 22.59°C and 0.48°C, respectively. Intense cryotherapy led to an insignificant change in the deep tissue temperature at 2 cm and deeper below the fat tissue. After ice removal, tissues continued cooling down for about 8 min until 40 min, depending on the tissue depth. This study proposed a 100-min cold therapy with 10 min of ice removal to optimize tissue cooling.

Effect of Cryotherapy Temperature on the Extension Performance of Healthy Adults’ Legs

Cryotherapy as a measurement of sports recovery and treatment has been utilized by more and more athletes and coaches. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of different temperature cryotherapies on leg extension performance. Thirty-one male participants from a University volunteered to join two different temperature cryotherapies. The peak power and peak force of right leg extension performance of each participant was measured by Keiser, before and after cryotherapy, respectively. The results of this study show that there was a significant difference in peak power (t = −3.203, p value = 0.003) and peak force (t = −4.662, p value = 0) before and after 0 °C cryotherapy. In addition, there was a significant difference in peak force (t = −4.36, p value = 0) before and after −5 °C cryotherapy. Besides, the changing rates of peak power (3.03%) and peak force (11.51%) in the 0 °C group were higher than those of peak power (2.80%), as well as peak force (7.45%), in the −5 °C group. The PF in the 0 °C and −5 °C groups both significantly increased after cryotherapy. Peak power significantly increased after 0 °C cryotherapy, but did not significantly increase after −5 °C cryotherapy. The changing rates of peak power and peak force in the 0 °C group were both higher than the −5 °C group. A short period of cold treatment at 0 °C may increase the leg extension ability. A 0 °C cold therapy for a short period of time is more suitable than a −5 °C one for athletes to recover during the interval within a competition. Athlete and coach could choose an appropriate temperature to help increase performance of physical level and recovery.