A prospective comparative study between a cooling device and manual cooling after total knee arthroplasty

Studies have shown that the use of cryotherapy after a total knee arthroplasty can have beneficial effect on blood loss, pain and medication usage. In this study, the effect of the applied cryotherapy procedure is investigated. 52 patients underwent a total knee arthroplasty. The test group received continuous cooling, whereas the control group received manual conventional cooling with ice dressing. The knee circumference and range of motion, medication use, satisfaction and pain were investigated. There is no statistical significant difference in pain and medication usage. A significant difference is observed in the swelling of the knee on the first postoperative day, the range of motion on the 7 th , 10 th , 11 th and 12 th postoperative day, and the satisfaction rate. This study shows that continuous cooling has a positive effect on the swelling and range of motion of the knee, and on the satisfaction of the treatment. Clinical trial registration number : Clinical trial number : EudraCT2015-000259-26.