Whole body cryotherapy (WBC) in a cryo-chamber as a medical treatment was first established in Japan in the 1980s, later in Central Europe, and is now becoming more popular also in the United States. The exposure to extreme, non-physiological environmental conditions in a cryo-chamber at -110 °C may exceed the normal adaption capacity. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of WBC on blood pressure (BP) readings in adult subjects with rheumatic disorders and normal or moderately elevated BP. A sample of 23 subjects (8 female, 15 male) which were recruited according to their pathology between the age of 35 and 69 years undergoing 21 WBC applications was divided into three groups: a group of subjects with anti-hypertensive therapy, a group of subjects with mild arterial hypertension without medical treatment, and a normotensive control-group. A total of 483 BP readings were taken immediately before and after each WBC application. The systolic and diastolic BP were recorded, and the mean arterial pressure, and the amplitude of BP were calculated. A statistically significant rise of BP after WBC was found in the whole sample and in the normotensive group. Over the course of time, no significant change of BP behavior was observed, except for normotensive subjects, who showed a wider range in their systolic BP values. Generally accepted exclusion criteria were applied, and in our sample group WBC was safe with respect to unwanted BP alterations for adult subjects under 70 years-regardless of a pre-existing untreated mild or pharmacologically treated arterial hypertension. Greater changes of BP values might infrequently occur, so an individual monitoring of subjects is necessary.

Purpose This cohort study aims to investigate the current Rapid-Recovery-(RR)-pathway at an orthopaedic surgery hospital centre and to identify preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative factors that are significantly associated with prolonged hospital Length of Stay (LOS) after total knee arthroplasty (TKA). Method A total of 194 patients undergoing primary TKA were included in this retrospective study. Sociodemographic data documented were age, gender, body mass index, living situation, and the clinical diagnosis. Factors affecting patient constitution and laboratory data for serum level of Hb and CRP were assessed preoperatively and postoperatively. In addition, we collected patients’ data for attendance of patient education, planned discharge to rehabilitation facilities, and levels of postoperative pain. Results In univariate group comparisons, prolonged LOS was significantly associated with increased age, elevated C-reactive-Protein-level, and decreased haemoglobin level. Patients experiencing prolonged LOS also showed significant association with higher prevalence of comorbidities, female gender, living as widow, preoperative anticoagulation, requirement of blood transfusion, and planned discharge to rehabilitation facilities. However, after multivariate logistic regression, only planned discharge to rehabilitation facility, non-attendance of preoperative patient education, female gender, and increased pain levels were identified as significant predictors for prolonged LOS. Conclusion Efficient pain therapy and thorough patient education have a positive effect on treatment outcome after TKA in a RR-setting.

The present study aimed to compare changes during inpatient rehabilitation between conservatively and surgically treated patients. A total of n = 162 patients with cervical spine complaints were included in the study (n = 107 conservatively treated, n = 55 after surgery). Patients completed disease-specific (NDI) and generic (NPRS, EQ-5D-5L, HAQ) patient reported outcome measures (PROMs) before and after rehabilitation. In addition, the range of motion (ROM) in the transversal plane of the cervical spine was measured. Changes and correlations between PROMs and ROM values during rehabilitation were assessed. The influence of moderating factors on NDI outcomes was examined. Significant improvements with large effect sizes were found in PROMs and ROM (all p < 0.001). The conservatively treated patients showed significantly greater NDI improvements than operated patients (p = 0.050), but a greater proportion of poor performance in ROM (p = 0.035). Baseline NDI (β = 0.66), HAQ (β = 0.14), and ROM scores (β = −0.17) explained 63.7% of the variance in NDI after rehabilitation. Both patient groups showed different outcomes. The findings of this study indicate that the unique needs of patients may require different therapeutic interventions and highlight the importance of using multidimensional outcome measures when implementing a multimodal rehabilitation approach.

Introduction: Due to demographic changes and increasing knee osteoarthritis (KOA) prevalence, the incidence of total knee arthroplasties (TKA) is constantly rising. Clinical practice guidelines for the treatment of KOA unanimously recommend non-surgical interventions such as exercise, education, and weight reduction in overweight patients. The aim of this systematic review is to determine the proportion of patients with end-stage KOA who attended physiotherapy (PT) prior to TKA.Methods: A systematic literature search was carried out in the medical databases MEDLINE (via Pubmed), PEDro, and EBSCO in August of 2022. Studies were included regardless of their design, if they reported the proportion of patients with a diagnosis of primary KOA, who participated in PT prior to undergoing TKA. Study quality assessment was performed by two independent authors using the Joanna Briggs Institutes Checklist for studies reporting prevalence data. Results were presented by using a narrative synthesis.Results: Eighteen studies, comprising 579,718 patients, were identified in this systematic review. PT utilisation prior to TKA ranged from 10% to 73% for patients with advanced KOA. Only two studies showed PT utilisation rates of 60% or higher.Female gender, higher income, better socioeconomic status, higher education levels, older age were associated with PT utilisation. Data for other predicting factors was conflicting.Discussion: This review shows substantial variation in the utilisation of PT in patients with end-stage KOA. This is concerning, considering the uniform recommendation from clinical practice guidelines for non-surgical treatments like exercise and education in patients with KOA, which are mostly provided by physiotherapists.