Assessment of the Dynamics of Temperature Changes in the Knee Joint Area in Response to Selected Cooling Agents in Thermographic Tests.

Aleksandra Radecka,Anna Lubkowska,Waldemar Pluta

doi:10.3390/ijerph18105326

Abstract

Although local cryotherapy (LC) is performed with various cooling agents (CAg) such as ice, water, and gasses, in clinical practice, it is mostly performed with cooling gasses. Presently, LC with cooling gasses is very popular but the inference about the thermal (stimulus) effect on the tissues is mainly based on research carried out using ice packs. The proposed objective of the study was to evaluate the dynamics of temperature changes in the knee joint area in response to a 3-min exposure to liquid nitrogen vapors (LNVs), cold air (CA) and ice bag (IB). The study group included 23 healthy volunteers with an average age of 26.67 ± 4.56. The exposed (ROIE) and contralateral (ROINE) areas of the knee joint after exposure to CAg were observed. Immediately after 3 min of LC, the ROIE temperature dropped by 10.11 ± 0.91 °C after LNV, 7.59 ± 0.14 °C after IB and 6.76 ± 1.3 °C after CA. Significant tissue cooling was maintained up to 15 min after LNV (p < 0.01), 10 min after IB (p < 0.05) and 5 min after CA (p < 0.05). LC causes significant temperature changes both in ROIE and ROINE. The greatest cooling potential was demonstrated for LNV and the lowest for CA.

Highlights

Koutatsu NagaiCryotherapy is a physical procedure involving the use of a cooling agent (CAg ) to temporarily disturb thermal homeostasis
Academic Editors: Cesar Fernández-de-las-Peñas and Cryotherapy is a physical procedure involving the use of a cooling agent (CAg ) to temporarily disturb thermal homeostasis
This is especially true of the local use of refrigerant gases in local cryotherapy (LC), LC induced by vaporizing gasses is very common in wellness centers and cryotherapy facilities globally, we only found a few studies which investigated the thermal effects after these cooling agents

Summary

Introduction

Cryotherapy is a physical procedure involving the use of a cooling agent (CAg ) to temporarily disturb thermal homeostasis. In response to the tissue cooling, a number of thermoregulatory reactions take place that make up the post-treatment reaction, being induced to achieve a therapeutic effect [1,2,3]. The treatment performed on healthy people (e.g., in biological regeneration) for stimulation purposes is named cryostimulation [4]. The therapeutic effects of cryotherapy include, among others: analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antiswelling, myorelaxant, hyperemic, and modulating antioxidant and immune responses of the organism [1,5,6,7,8,9]. E.g., in athletes, cryostimulations are performed in order to improve muscular recovery after exercise [10,11,12]. The therapeutic or stimulating effect of cryotherapy depends on the ability to reduce the tissues’ temperature, but the degree of hypothermia has not been clearly defined in the literature

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion