Effectiveness of Salted Ice Bag Versus Cryocompression on Decreasing Intramuscular and Skin Temperature.

CONTEXT: Rest, ice, compression, and elevation are commonly recommended immediately after injury. Traditionally, ice bag (IB) with elastic wrap compression has been utilized; however, recently intermittent cryocompression units are being used. Limited research has evaluated tissue temperature decreases with intermittent cryocompression units. OBJECTIVE: Evaluate magnitude of muscle and skin cooling. DESIGN: Repeated-measures counterbalanced study. SETTING: University research laboratory. PATIENTS OR OTHER PARTICIPANTS: Twelve healthy college-aged participants (4 males and 8 females; age = 23.08 [1.93] y; height = 171.66 [9.47] cm; mass = 73.67 [13.46] kg; subcutaneous thickness = 0.90 [0.35] cm) without compromised circulation or injury. INTERVENTION(S): Salted IB, GameReady (GR), and PowerPlay-ice bag (PP-ice) were applied to the posterior aspect of the nondominant calf for 30 minutes; participants underwent each treatment in counterbalanced order. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Muscle temperature measured via 21-gauge catheter thermocouple; skin temperature measured via a surface thermocouple. Temperatures were recorded at baseline and during a 30-minute treatment. Correlations were evaluated between muscle and skin temperatures. RESULTS: Nonsignificant treatment × time interaction and nonsignificant main effect of treatment for intramuscular cooling. Mean Decrease From Baseline: IB, 6.4°C (±2.8); GR, 5.4°C (±1.1); PP-ice, 4.8°C (±2.8). Nonsignificant treatment × time interaction for skin cooling (F20,200 = 1.440, P = .65, ηp2=.346 , and observed ß = 0.773), but significant main effect for treatment (F10,100 = 5.279, P = .03, ηp2=.883 , and observed ß = 1.00). Mean Decrease From Baseline: IB, 17.0°C; GR, 16.4°C; PP-ice, 14.6°C. No significant correlation between intramuscular and skin temperatures in any condition at any time point. No significant correlation between adipose tissue thickness and maximum temperature decrease with any modality. CONCLUSIONS: Salted IB with elastic wrap compression, GR, and PP-ice produced equivalent intramuscular temperature decreases during the treatment period.

Examination of Intramuscular and Skin Temperature Decreases Produced by the PowerPlay Intermittent Compression Cryotherapy.

CONTEXT: Previous research has found ice bags are more effective at lowering intramuscular temperature than gel packs. Recent studies have evaluated intramuscular temperature cooling decreases with ice bag versus Game Ready and with the PowerPlay system wetted ice bag inserts; however, intramuscular temperature decreases elicited by PowerPlay with the standard frozen gel pack inserts have not been examined. OBJECTIVE: Evaluate the rate and magnitude of cooling using PowerPlay with frozen gel pack (PP-gel) option, PowerPlay with wetted ice bag (PP-ice) option, and control (no treatment) on skin and intramuscular temperature (2 cm subadipose). DESIGN: Repeated-measures counterbalanced study. SETTING: University research laboratory. PATIENTS OR OTHER PARTICIPANTS: Twelve healthy college-aged participants (4 men and 8 women; age = 23.08 (1.93) y, height = 171.66 (9.47) cm, mass = 73.67 (13.46) kg, and subcutaneous thickness = 0.90 (0.35) cm). INTERVENTION(S): PowerPlay (70 mm Hg) with either wetted ice bag or frozen gel pack was applied to posterior aspect of nondominant calf for 30 minutes; control lay prone for 30 minutes. Participants underwent each treatment in counterbalanced order (minimum 4 d, maximum 10 d between). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Muscle temperature was measured via 21-gauge catheter thermocouple (IT-21; Physitemp Instruments, Inc). Skin temperature was measured via surface thermocouple (SST-1; Physitemp Instruments, Inc). RESULTS: Significant treatment-by-time interaction for muscle cooling (F10,80 = 11.262, P = .01, [Formula: see text], observed ß = 0.905) was observed. PP-ice cooled faster than both PP-gel and control from minutes 12 to 30 (all Ps < .05); PP-gel cooled faster than control from minutes 18 to 30 (all Ps < .05). Mean decreases from baseline: PP-ice = 4.8°C (2.8°C), PP-gel = 2.3°C (0.8°C), and control = 1.1°C (0.4°C). Significant treatment-by-time interaction for skin cooling (F10,80 = 23.920, P = .001, [Formula: see text], observed ß = 0.998) was observed. PP-ice cooled faster than both PP-gel and control from minutes 6 to 30 (all Ps < .05); PP-gel cooled faster than control from minutes 12 to 30 (all Ps < .05). Mean decreases from baseline: PP-ice = 14.6°C (4.8°C), PP-gel = 4.0°C (0.9°C), and control = 1.0°C (1.0°C). CONCLUSIONS: PP-ice produces clinically and statistically greater muscle and skin cooling compared with PP-gel and control.