The American journal of orthopedics
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
The effect of cold therapy on the postoperative course of total hip and knee arthroplasty patients.
Fifty total hip arthroplasty (THA) patients and 24 total knee arthroplasty (TKA) patients were randomized in a controlled study to examine the effects of cold therapy (via thermal blankets) in the postoperative period. The postoperative hospital stay was significantly shorter for the cold-therapy (50 degrees F) compared with control (70 degrees F) groups (by 1.4 days, P = 0.03) for THA patients. ⋯ Total knee arthroplasty patients using cold therapy achieved independent ambulation an average of 1 day sooner than TKA control patients, but this difference did not reach statistical significance (P = 0.08). There were no statistically significant differences between the control groups or the test groups for both THA and TKA patients in narcotic usage, postoperative range-of-motion (ROM), or rate of progression of ROM.
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Case Reports
Acute exercise-induced bilateral anterolateral leg compartment syndrome in a healthy young man.
While compartment syndrome after traumatic injury is a well-recognized entity, atraumatic or exercise-induced acute compartment syndrome is not as widely reported. This syndrome, usually unilateral, was first described as "march gangrene" in 1943, and can result in the loss of life or limb. ⋯ We wish to report a case of acute, bilateral, exercise-induced anterolateral leg compartment syndrome in a healthy young man. Early recognition and prompt treatment by decompressive fasciotomy is of vital importance if limb function is to be preserved and complications are to be avoided.