Effect of localized thermoelectric cold application on the breaking load of experimentally tenotomized Achilles tendons in rats

The study was done to determine whether daily, local applications of cold generated by a thermoelectric device would have any effect on the breaking load of healing Achilles tendons of rats tested on the eighth day after tenotomy. Fifty two female Wistar-strain rats were randomly assigned to three experimental groups and one control group each having thirteen rats. Each rat underwent tenotomy of the right Achilles tendon after which the tendon ends were approximated with a single loop suture before encasing the limb in plaster of Paris which had a window over the incision site.;A thermoelectric cold generator was constructed from a computerized temperature controller, a circuit of resistors, a thermoelectric device and a hypodermic thermistor. The principle of operation of the generator is based on the Peltier effect of thermoelectric cooling.;Rats in group one were treated with thermoelectric cold (15;One-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) of the means of both prewt and postwt showed no significant difference. One-way ANOVA showed no significant difference between the means of load values in all the groups. Though the TA samples ruptured as a result of the applied load during testing, paired student's T-test showed no significant difference when pairs of groups were sampled.;Ancillary multiple classification analysis was utilized since there were no significant interactions between the variables. The variance in one variable as other variables were introduced also showed no significant difference.;The results obtained do not show statistical significance in any of the experimental groups but the trend towards enhancements of healing as a result of treatment with cold is seen in group one more than in any other group.