The Use of Cold Therapy After Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction A Prospective, Randomized Study and Literature Review*

We performed a randomized, prospective study to as-sess the effectiveness of postoperative cold therapy in patients who had anterior cruciate ligament reconstruc-tions. Drain output, length of hospital stay, range of motion, and use of pain medication were all assessed. Patients were randomized into one of four groups after surgery. Group 1 patients had a cooling pad applied to the knee postoperatively and set at a temperature of 40° to 50°F, Group 2 had the cooling pad set at 70° to 80°F, Group 3 received ice packs, and Group 4 re-ceived no cold therapy of any kind. The skin tempera-tures in Groups 1 and 3 were significantly lower than the skin temperatures in Groups 2 and 4 (P < 0.001). The length of hospital stay, range of motion at dis