If you have kids, odds are you have ice packs or a bag of frozen peas in the back of your freezer in case one of your children gets injured. Ice packs or a bag of ice are quick solutions, but because they melt and typically fluctuate in temperature, researchers have investigated other cooling options.
Advances in cryotherapy have led to the development of several cooling devices that maintain a specific temperature for a set period of time. Doctors wanted to see how the average ice pack stacked up to the consistent temperature of a cryotherapy device, so they put the pair to the test.
Researchers compared the two devices to measure three factors in patients who had undergone a knee arthroplasty. They wanted to see how the devices compared in:
- Postoperative pain control/Narcotic consumption for pain control.
- Early range of motion.
- Control of postoperative bleeding and swelling.
A group of 116 individuals who underwent a knee arthroplasty were divided into two groups, with 58 patients receiving cryotherapy treatment and 58 receiving cold pack treatment.
Ice Pack Findings
After looking at the data, researchers noted that there was no significant differences in the visual analog scale, the need for analgesics, or secondary outcomes, save for one interesting finding. Researchers noted that the participants in the cyrotherapy group had substantially reduced flexion at 6 weeks than the ice pack group (114° versus 120°).
The authors concluded that ice packs should be used in place of cryotherapy unless ice packs are significantly more expensive, but considering cold packs are typically only a few dollars, it appears that ice packs will remain the go to option for icing after a knee arthroplasty.
Dr. Silverman comments
This study has been repeated over and over and over again. Most of the time the study hasn’t even been published because it always shows that there’s no difference between a bag of ice and a complex cooling mechanism.
I’ve always recommended to my patients that a big garbage bag full of ice or frozen peas and frozen corn work just as well. Most of the time these cooling devices are just slightly more convenient. In this circumstance it showed that cyrotherapy actually resulted in a diminished range of motion. That’s not a good result. The cheaper and more effective option will always be preferred over the more expensive and less effective option.