Cold Intermittent Pneumatic Compression: Application in the Rehabilitation of Multiple Trauma Dogs and Cats or After Surgery

Abstract

Cold Intermittent Pneumatic Compression Technique (TCFPI) resulted from the evolution and combination of several rehabilitation techniques such as cryotherapy and cold compression. In this study was carried out a comparison between TCFPI and cryotherapy in dogs and cats submitted to surgical procedures or multiple trauma patients. 61 animals with orthopedic, surgical and emergency conditions were selected for the study: 33 were treated using TCFPI and 28 treated using cryotherapy. Animals treated using TCFPI achieve a faster recovery by decreasing pain effectively, reducing swelling, enhancing blood circulation, lymphatic drainage and tissue stimulation. This technique allows combining a set of different rehabilitation techniques since operation parameters as temperature, pressure and therapy duration are customizable, making the whole treatment process shorter and easier to achieve the required physical conditions to initiate the rehabilitation process, and thus decreasing the morbidity rate. Since the human biped and the quadruped animal are neuroanatomically and neurophysiologically identical, as well as at muscular co-contraction level, it is intended to highlight the importance of TCFPI facing cryotherapy on human, on Orthopedics and internal medicine, in decreasing days of hospitalization and pain.