抄録
The purposes of this study are to investigate if the effect of cryotherapy after arthroscopic rotator cuff repair (ARCR) would increase by postoperative early changing of gauze containing lots of irrigation fluid and to compare 24hours cooling to 48hours cooling for reducing pain after ARCR. 29patients were applied continuous cryotherapy at five degrees after ARCR. Patients were divided into three groups: 11patients cooled for 48hours without dressing change (48hrs without DC group), 11patients cooled for 48hours with dressing change about five hours postoperatively (48hrs with DC group), seven patients cooled for 24 hours with dressing change about five hours postoperatively (24hrs with DC group). Postoperative Visual analogue scale (VAS) and the number of times the patients used painkillers during the first 48 hours postoperatively were evaluated in each group. The peaks of VAS in each group were within 24hours postoperatively except for one patient. The maximum VAS was 4.8 in the 48hrs without DC group, 3.2 in the 48hrs with DC group and 3.3 in the 24hrs with DC group. The number who used painkillers more than three times was four in the 48hrs without DC group, three in the 48hrs with DC group and zero in the 24hrs group. Postoperative early changing of gauze in cryotherapy was considered effective for reducing pain after ARCR. From the result that cooling for 24hours had an equivalent effect to cooling for 48hours, 24hours was considered to be enough time for cryotherapy after ARCR.
