Comments on article by Cuthill and Cuthill: ‘Partial-thickness burn to the leg following application of a cold pack: case report and results of a questionnaire survey of Scottish physiotherapists in private practice. Physiotherapy 2006;92:61–5’

Abstract

Whilst supporting many of the issues highlighted by Cuthill and Cuthill [ [1] Cuthill J.A. Cuthill G.S. Partial-thickness burn to the leg following application of a cold pack: case report and results of a questionnaire survey of Scottish physiotherapists in private practice. Physiotherapy. 2006; 92: 61-65 Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF Scopus (9) Google Scholar ], I cannot agree with the point made regarding the incidence of cold-induced injury resulting from cryotherapy for two reasons. Firstly, on a personal note, I, like 49% of the survey, have never seen this type of injury. Considering that I have been involved with many sports clubs for over 30 years, this may suggest that it is not as common as highlighted in the article. Secondly, Cuthill and Cuthill (p. 63) report that a physiotherapist ‘may expect to see this type of injury once every 5 years’. This figure was produced using the maximum incident figure of 158 separate incidents. However, if they used the minimum incident figure (i.e. 87), one could comment that their own figures now produce a scenario of once every 8 years. Also, these separate incident figures were very much influenced by only 9% of the survey (49% have not seen this type of injury), which makes the 5-year figure even more questionable. Finally, the authors quote that there is a ‘relatively high incidence of injury’ (p. 64), which is not supported by the above figures. I am not sure what a relatively high incidence is but it is not once every 5 years, even if one can accept the figure cited in the article as being correct. When one considers the widespread use of cryotherapy in the population, it could be argued that a figure of once every 5 years reflects a low incidence of injury. Reply to Dr Rouse regarding ‘Partial-thickness burn to the leg following application of a cold pack: case report and results of a questionnaire survey of Scottish physiotherapists in private practice. Physiotherapy 2006;92:61–5’PhysiotherapyVol. 92Issue 2PreviewWe thank Dr Rouse for his response to our article [1]. Also, on a personal note, neither of us had ever seen this type of injury before this presentation. At this point, it should be stated that one of the authors (J.A.C.) was the injured patient. Being a doctor who is very interested in sports medicine and participates in many sports, J.A.C. felt that she knew the risks; however, the injury still occurred. Full-Text PDF