PMID- 37770960
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20231123
LR  - 20240313
IS  - 2047-783X (Electronic)
IS  - 0949-2321 (Print)
IS  - 0949-2321 (Linking)
VI  - 28
IP  - 1
DP  - 2023 Sep 28
TI  - Evaluating safety risks of whole-body cryotherapy/cryostimulation (WBC): a 
      scoping review from an international consortium.
PG  - 387
LID - 10.1186/s40001-023-01385-z [doi]
LID - 387
AB  - Over the two last decades, whole-body cryotherapy/cryostimulation (WBC) has 
      emerged as an exciting non-pharmacological treatment influencing inflammatory 
      events at a cellular and physiological level, which can result in improved sleep 
      quality, faster neuromuscular recovery after high-intensity exercise, and chronic 
      pain relief for patients suffering different types of diseases (fibromyalgia, 
      rheumatism, arthritis). Some evidence even suggests that WBC has benefits on 
      mental health (depression, anxiety disorders) and cognitive functions in both 
      adults and older adults, due to increased circulating BDNF levels. Recently, some 
      safety concerns have been expressed by influential public health authorities 
      (e.g., FDA, INSERM) based on reports from patients who developed adverse events 
      upon or following WBC treatment. However, part of the data used to support these 
      claims involved individuals whose entire body (except head) was exposed to 
      extreme cold vaporized liquid nitrogen while standing in a narrow bathtub. Such a 
      procedure is known as partial-body cryotherapy (PBC), and is often erroneously 
      mistaken to be whole-body cryotherapy. Although having similarities in terms of 
      naming and pursued aims, these two approaches are fundamentally different. The 
      present article reviews the available literature on the main safety concerns 
      associated with the use of true whole-body cryotherapy. English- and 
      French-language reports of empirical studies including case reports, case series, 
      and randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were identified through searches of 
      PubMed, Scopus, Cochrane, and Web of Science electronic databases. Five case 
      reports and two RCTs were included for a total of 16 documented adverse events 
      (AEs). A critical in-depth evaluation of these AEs (type, severity, context of 
      onset, participant's medical background, follow-up) is proposed and used to 
      illustrate that WBC-related safety risks are within acceptable limits and can be 
      proactively prevented by adhering to existing recommendations, contraindications, 
      and commonsense guidelines.
CI  - (c) 2023. The Author(s).
FAU - Legrand, Fabien D
AU  - Legrand FD
AD  - Laboratoire C2S, EA 6291, Universite de Reims Champagne Ardennes, 51100, Reims, 
      France. fabien.legrand@univ-reims.fr.
FAU - Dugue, Benoit
AU  - Dugue B
AD  - Laboratoire Mobilite Vieillissement, Exercice (MOVE), UR 20296, Faculte des 
      Sciences du Sport, Universite de Poitiers, 86000, Poitiers, France.
FAU - Costello, Joe
AU  - Costello J
AD  - Extreme Environments Laboratory, School of Sport, Health and Exercise Science, 
      University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, England, UK.
FAU - Bleakley, Chris
AU  - Bleakley C
AD  - Faculty of Life and Health Sciences, Ulster University, York St, Belfast, BT15 
      1ED, UK.
FAU - Miller, Elzbieta
AU  - Miller E
AD  - Department of Neurological Rehabilitation, Medical University of Lodz, Milionowa 
      14, Lodz, Poland.
FAU - Broatch, James R
AU  - Broatch JR
AD  - Institute for Health and Sport (IHES), Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia.
FAU - Polidori, Guillaume
AU  - Polidori G
AD  - MATIM, Universite de Reims Champagne Ardennes, 51100, Reims, France.
FAU - Lubkowska, Anna
AU  - Lubkowska A
AD  - Department of Functional Diagnostics and Physical Medicine, Pomeranian Medical 
      University in Szczecin, Zolnierska 54, 71-210, Szczecin, Poland.
FAU - Louis, Julien
AU  - Louis J
AD  - Research Institute for Sport and Exercise Sciences (RISES), Liverpool John Moores 
      University, Liverpool, L3 3AF, UK.
FAU - Lombardi, Giovanni
AU  - Lombardi G
AD  - Laboratory of Experimental Biochemistry, IRCCS Istituto Ortopedico Galeazzi, 
      20157, Milan, Italy.
FAU - Bieuzen, Francois
AU  - Bieuzen F
AD  - Service des Sciences du Sport, Institut National du Sport du Quebec, Montreal, 
      QC, Canada.
FAU - Capodaglio, Paolo
AU  - Capodaglio P
AD  - Laboratorio di Ricerca in Biomeccanica, Riabilitazione ed Ergonomia, Universita 
      di Torino, Torino, Italy.
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Review
DEP - 20230928
PL  - England
TA  - Eur J Med Res
JT  - European journal of medical research
JID - 9517857
SB  - IM
EIN - Eur J Med Res. 2024 Mar 12;29(1):158. PMID: 38475855
MH  - Humans
MH  - Aged
MH  - *Cryotherapy/adverse effects/methods
MH  - *Exercise
PMC - PMC10537204
OTO - NOTNLM
OT  - Adverse events
OT  - International consortium
OT  - Scoping review
OT  - Whole-Body Cryotherapy/Cryostimulation (WBC)
COIS- The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
EDAT- 2023/09/29 00:42
MHDA- 2023/11/23 06:42
PMCR- 2023/09/28
CRDT- 2023/09/28 23:54
PHST- 2023/04/30 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2023/09/19 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2023/11/23 06:42 [medline]
PHST- 2023/09/29 00:42 [pubmed]
PHST- 2023/09/28 23:54 [entrez]
PHST- 2023/09/28 00:00 [pmc-release]
AID - 10.1186/s40001-023-01385-z [pii]
AID - 1385 [pii]
AID - 10.1186/s40001-023-01385-z [doi]
PST - epublish
SO  - Eur J Med Res. 2023 Sep 28;28(1):387. doi: 10.1186/s40001-023-01385-z.