| Although cryotherapy associated to compression is recommended
as immediate treatment after muscle injury, the effect of intermittent
sessions of these procedures in the area of secondary muscle injury
is not established. This study examined the effect of three sessions
of cryotherapy (30 min of ice pack each 2h) and muscle compression
(sand pack) in the muscle-injured area. Twenty-four Wistar rats (312
± 20g) were evaluated. In three groups, the middle belly of
tibialis anterior (TA) muscle was injured by a frozen iron bar and
received one of the following treatments: a) three sessions of cryotherapy;
b) three sessions of compression; c) not treated. An uninjured group
received sessions of cryotherapy. Frozen muscles were cross- sectioned
(10 µm) and stained for the measurement of injured and uninjured muscle
area. Injured muscles submitted to cryotherapy showed the smallest
injured area (29.83 ± 6.6%), compared to compressed (39.2 ±
2.8%, p= 0.003) and untreated muscles (41.74 ± 4.0%, p = 0.0008).
No difference was found between injured compressed and injured untreated
muscles. In conclusion, three intermittent sessions of cryotherapy
applied immediately after muscle damage was able to reduce the secondary
muscle injury, while only the muscle compression did not provide the
same effectiveness.
KEY
WORDS: Tibialis anterior, hypothermia, damage.
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