RT Journal Article
T1 Short-term cryotherapy did not substantially reduce pain and had unclear effects on physical function and quality of life in people with knee osteoarthritis: a randomised trial.
A1 Dantas, Lucas Ogura
A1 Breda, Carolina Carreira
A1 da Silva Serrao, Paula Regina Mendes
A1 Aburquerque-Sendin, Francisco
A1 Serafim Jorge, Ana Elisa
A1 Cunha, Jonathan Emanuel
A1 Barbosa, Germanna Medeiros
A1 Durigan, Joao Luiz Quagliotti
A1 Salvini, Tania de Fatima
K1 Cryotherapy
K1 Knee
K1 Osteoarthritis
K1 Physical therapy
K1 Randomised trial
AB Does short-term cryotherapy improve pain, function and quality of life in people with knee osteoarthritis (OA)? Randomised controlled trial with concealed allocation, blinded assessment of some outcomes, and intention-to-treat analysis. People living in the community with knee OA. The experimental group received cryotherapy, delivered as packs of crushed ice applied to the knee with mild compression. The control group received the same regimen but with sham packs filled with sand. The interventions were applied once a day for 4 consecutive days. Participants were assessed at baseline and on the day after the 4-day intervention period. The primary outcome was pain intensity according to a visual analogue scale. Secondary outcomes were baseline to post-intervention changes according to the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis, Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome; Timed Up and Go test; and 30-Second Chair to Stand test. Sixty participants were randomised into the experimental group (n = 30) or the control group (n = 30). Twenty-nine participants from each group completed the trial. The mean between-group difference in change in pain severity was -0.8 cm (95% CI -1.6 to 0.1), where negative values favour the experimental group. This result did not reach the nominated smallest worthwhile effect of 1.75 cm. The secondary outcomes had less-precise estimates, with confidence intervals that spanned worthwhile, trivial and mildly harmful effects. Short-term cryotherapy was not superior to a sham intervention in terms of relieving pain or improving function and quality of life in people with knee OA. Although cryotherapy is considered to be a widely used resource in clinical practice, this study does not suggest that it has an important short-term effect, when compared with a sham control, as a non-pharmacological treatment for people with knee osteoarthritis. 
PB Elsevier
YR 2019
FD 2019-09-11
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10668/14508
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10668/14508
LA en
NO Dantas LO, Breda CC, da Silva Serrao PRM, Aburquerque-Sendín F, Serafim Jorge AE, Cunha JE, et al. Short-term cryotherapy did not substantially reduce pain and had unclear effects on physical function and quality of life in people with knee osteoarthritis: a randomised trial. J Physiother. 2019 Oct;65(4):215-221
DS RISalud
RD Apr 5, 2025