Trial reportJournal of foot and ankle research2020
Should ice application be replaced with neurocryostimulation for the treatment of acute lateral ankle sprains? A randomized clinical trial.
Trial report in Journal of foot and ankle research, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT02945618 (Neurocryostimulation for the Treatment of Acute Lateral Ankle Sprain), which is not on this map. Cited by 8 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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.
Neurocryostimulation for the Treatment of Acute Lateral Ankle Sprain : a Single Blind Randomized Controlled Trial
Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 33 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effectiveness of photobiomodulation therapy in the treatment of patients with an ankle sprain: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Lasers in medical science · 2024Pooled it
- Trends, impact, and future directions of ankle injury research in soccer players: A bibliometric analysis.Medicine · 2026Article
- Does ice affect healing after muscle injury? Ask me again next century.Journal of sport and health science · 2025Article
- Disability and Functionality Measures in Patients With Acute Ankle Sprain: A Scoping Review.Journal of chiropractic medicine · 2025Review
- Ankle fractures of the geriatric patient: a narrative review.EFORT open reviews · 2023Review
- Evaluation of Application Effect of Self-Made Compression Cold Therapy in Postoperative Rehabilitation of Patients with Orthopedic Dyskinesia.Computational and mathematical methods in medicine · 2022Article
- Temperature-Mediated Nerve Blocks in the Treatment of Pain.Current pain and headache reports · 2021Review
- Is it time to put traditional cold therapy in rehabilitation of soft-tissue injuries out to pasture?World journal of clinical cases · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
STUDY
designSingle-blind parallel group randomized clinical trial.
objectivesTo compare the effects of neurocryostimulation (NCS) with those of traditional ice application on functional recovery, pain, edema and ankle dorsiflexion range of motion (ROM) in individuals receiving physiotherapy treatments for acute lateral ankle sprains (LAS).
backgroundAnkle sprain is a very common injury and its management is often costly, with important short- and long-term impacts on individuals and society. As new methods of therapy using cold (cryotherapy) are emerging for the treatment of musculoskeletal conditions, little evidence exists to support their use. NCS, which provokes a rapid cooling of the skin with the liberation of pressured CO
methodsForty-one participants with acute LAS were randomly assigned either to a group that received in-clinic physiotherapy treatments and NCS (experimental NCS group, n = 20), or to a group that received the same in-clinic physiotherapy treatments and traditional ice application (comparison ice group, n = 21). Primary (Lower Extremity Functional Scale - LEFS) and secondary (visual analog scale for pain intensity at rest and during usual activities in the last 48 h, Figure of Eight measurement of edema, and weight bearing lunge for ankle dorsiflexion range of motion) outcomes were evaluated at baseline (T0), after one week (T1), two weeks (T2), four weeks (T4) and finally, after six weeks (T6). The effects of interventions were assessed using two-way ANOVA-type Nonparametric Analysis for Longitudinal Data (nparLD).
resultsNo significant group-time interaction or group effect was observed for all outcomes (0.995 ≥ p ≥ 0.057) following the intervention. Large time effects were however observed for all outcomes (p < 0.0001).
conclusionResults suggest that neurocryostimulation is no more effective than traditional ice application in improving functional recovery, pain, edema, and ankle dorsiflexion ROM during the first six weeks of physiotherapy treatments in individuals with acute LAS. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Therapy, level 1b.
trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov , NCT02945618 . Registered 23 October 2016 - Retrospectively registered (25 participants recruited prior to registration, 17 participants after).
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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.