LAUSR

CONTEXT Decreased postural balance is a primary risk factor for lower limb injuries. Cryotherapy is commonly utilized by clinicians to provide local analgesia for minor acute knee joint musculoskeletal injuries during breaks in play or at half-time. Its effect on dynamic postural balance remains unclear. OBJECTIVES To investigate the acute effects of a 15-minute knee joint cryotherapy application on dynamic postural balance, as assessed primarily via a clinically-oriented outcome measure. DESIGN Experimental study. SETTING University biomechanics laboratory. PATIENTS OR PARTICIPANTS Twenty-eight elite-level collegiate male field-sport athletes. Intervention(s): Participants were tested on the anterior (ANT), posterior-medial (PM) and posterior-lateral (PL) reach directions of the Star Excursion Balance Test (SEBT) both pre- and post- a 15-minute knee joint cryotherapy application. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S) Normalized reach distances, 3-dimensional knee joint kinematics, sagittal plane hip and ankle joint kinematics, as well as fractal dimension (FD) of the center-of-pressure (COP) path during the performance of the ANT, PM and PL reach directions of the SEBT. RESULTS There was a statistically significant decrease in reach distance scores achieved on ANT, PM and PL directions of the SEBT from pre-cryotherapy to post-cryotherapy (p < 0.05). None of the decreases in reach distance scores exceeded the reported smallest detectable difference values. No significant differences were observed in hip, knee or ankle joint kinematics (p > 0.05). No significant change in FD was observed for any reach direction following cryotherapy application (p > 0.05). CONCLUSION The results of the present study indicate that dynamic postural balance, is unlikely to be adversely affected immediately following cryotherapy application to the knee joint.