Effect of coolant spray on rib fracture pain of geriatric blunt thoracic trauma patients: a randomized controlled trial

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of cryotherapy in elderly patients with rib fractures due to blunt thoracic trauma. METHODS: In this prospective randomized controlled study, geriatric patients were assigned to groups to receive either coolant spray (n=51) or placebo spray (n=50). The visual analog scale scores of all patients were recorded before starting spray application (V0), as well as at 10th (V1), 20th (V2), 30th (V3), 60th (V4), 120th (V5), and 360th (V6) minute. The mean decreases in the visual analog scale scores were calculated. RESULTS: The differences between V0 and V1, V0 and V2, V0 and V3, and V0 and V4 mean visual analog scale scores measured in the coolant spray group were found to be significantly higher (p<0.001). In V1, V2, V3, and V4 measurements, the incidence of "clinical effectiveness" in the coolant spray group was significantly higher than in the placebo group (p=0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Coolant spray therapy can be used as a component of multimodal therapy to provide adequate analgesia due to rib fractures in geriatric patients.

Comparison of Analgesic Efficacy of Cooling Spray and Saline Spray in Wrist Trauma; Randomized Controlled Double Blind Study

“…The randomization groups were rearranged each time a non-team member changed the number. After the patient was accepted to the study, Numerical Rating Scale (NRS) (10) pain score was measured and recorded. Then, cold spray or SF was applied according to the randomization order.…”

“…In a recent study, it has been reported that they can be used effectively in reducing pain and edema after subcutaneous ejections (9). The role of cooling sprays in coastal injuries occurring in geriatric patient groups was studied, and pain control was reported to be highly effective in the acute period [10] It was shown that patients' diagnosis and treatment processes were completed more rapidly by reducing acute pain. In a similar study, Gür et al reported successful results in reducing pain and providing patient comfort in acute ankle injuries with a cooling spray [11] Park et al reported that it could be used for pain control in the preoperative period, but its efficacy in controlling long-term pain and reducing edema is limited [3] In parallel with previous studies, this study evaluated that the use of cooling spray in emergency departments was effective in acute pain control in emergency departments.…”

Comments on “Effect of coolant spray on rib fracture pain of geriatric blunt thoracic trauma patients: a randomized controlled trial”

“…This paper 1 aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of cryotherapy in elderly patients with rib fractures due to blunt thoracic trauma via a prospective randomized controlled study (coolant spray group, n=51; placebo spray group, n=50). The authors concluded that coolant spray therapy can be used as a component of multimodal therapy to provide adequate analgesia due to rib fractures in geriatric patients; however, some points of this research do not support this conclusion.…”