Trial reportKnee surgery, sports traumatology, arthroscopy : official journal of the ESSKA2019
Reduced opiate use after total knee arthroplasty using computer-assisted cryotherapy.
Trial report in Knee surgery, sports traumatology, arthroscopy : official journal of the ESSKA, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 2 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 21 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Effect of Cryo- and Compression Therapy After Total Knee and Unicompartmental Arthroplasty, A Randomised Controlled Trial
The Role of Computer-Assisted Cryotherapy in the Postoperative Treatment After Total Knee Arthroplasty
Who cites it
21 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 39 citations in OpenAlex.
- Clinical practice guideline for physical therapist management of total knee arthroplasty: revision 2026.Physical therapy · 2026Guideline
- Pooled it
- Cryotherapy for Rehabilitation After Total Knee Arthroplasty: A Comprehensive Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Orthopaedic surgery · 2024Pooled it
- Cryotherapy following total knee replacement.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2023Pooled it
- Effectiveness and methods of cryotherapy in reducing swelling after total knee arthroplasty: A systematic review on randomized controlled trials.Nursing open · 2023Pooled it
- Effect of Cold Application on Pain and Bruising in Patients With Subcutaneous Injection of Low-Molecular-Weight Heparin: A Meta-Analysis.Clinical and applied thrombosis/hemostasis : official journal of the International Academy of Clinical and Applied Thrombosis/HemostasisPooled it
- 6-week cryo-compression therapy and opioid use after unicompartmental knee arthroplasty with comparable pain scores: a secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial.Acta orthopaedica · 2026Trial
- Preoperative knee joint hypothermia reduces inflammation and recovery time and increases range of motion after total knee arthroplasty: A randomized controlled trial.Knee surgery, sports traumatology, arthroscopy : official journal of the ESSKA · 2025Trial
- The effect of cold needle on the development of pain and ecchymosis in subcutaneous heparin injection in adults: a prospective, randomised controlled study.Irish journal of medical science · 2025Trial
- Randomized controlled trial of compressive cryotherapy versus standard cryotherapy after total knee arthroplasty: pain, swelling, range of motion and functional recovery.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2024Trial
- The role of a cryocompression device following total knee arthroplasty to assist in recovery: a randomised controlled trial.Knee surgery, sports traumatology, arthroscopy : official journal of the ESSKA · 2023Trial
- Continuous Cold Flow Device Following Total Knee Arthroplasty: Myths and Reality.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2022Trial
- Infection prevention in total knee arthroplasty: current concepts, controversies, and a clinical algorithm.European journal of translational myology · 2026Article
- The Effect of Video-Based Education on Activities of Daily Living and Wound Healing of Patients with Total Hip Replacement: Randomised Controlled Trials.Nursing reports (Pavia, Italy) · 2025Article
- No long-term effect of 7-day computer-assisted cryotherapy treatment after total knee arthroplasty: A randomized controlled trial with 1-year follow-up.Journal of experimental orthopaedics · 2025Review
- Mechanisms and parameters of cryotherapy intervention for early postoperative swelling following total knee arthroplasty: A scoping review.Journal of experimental orthopaedics · 2025Review
- Article
- The Effects of Cryotherapy on Early Rehabilitation Following Total Knee Arthroplasty: A Prospective Cohort Study.Cureus · 2023Article
- Mirabilite with Ice Pack after Total Knee Arthroplasty: A Randomized Controlled Trial Study.Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM · 2021Article
- Efficacy of the Game ReadyEuropean spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeDespite multimodal pain management and advances in anesthetic techniques, total knee arthroplasty (TKA) remains painful during the early postoperative phase. This trial investigated whether computer-assisted cryotherapy (CAC) is effective in reduction of pain and consumption of opioids in patients operated for TKA following an outpatient surgery pathway.
methodsSixty patients scheduled for primary TKA were included in this prospective, double-blind, randomized controlled trial receiving CAC at 10-12 °C (Cold-group, n = 30) or at 21 °C (Warm-group, n = 30) during the first 7 days after TKA according to a fixed schedule. All patients received the same pre-, peri- and postoperative care with a multimodal pain protocol. Pain was assessed before and after every session of cryotherapy using the numerical rating scale for pain (NRS-pain). The consumption of opioids was strictly noted during the first 4 postoperative days. Secondary outcomes were knee swelling, visual hematoma and patient reported outcome measures (PROMs). These parameters were measured pre-, 1, 2 and 6 weeks postoperatively.
resultsIn both study groups, a reduction in NRS-pain after every CAC session were seen during the postoperative period of 7 days. A mean reduction of 0.9 and 0.7 on the NRS-pain was seen for respectively the Cold- (P = 0.008) and Warm-group (n.s.). A significant (P = 0.001) lower number of opioids were used by the Cold-group during the acute postoperative phase of 4 days, 47 and 83 tablets for respectively the Cold and Warm-group. No difference could be observed for secondary outcomes and adverse effects between both study groups.
conclusionsPostoperative CAC can be in added value in patients following an outpatient surgery pathway for TKA, resulting in reduced experienced pain and consumption of opioids during the first postoperative days.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.