Cryomedicine is a field of scientific medicine based on the use of cryogenic technology: the use of extremely low temperatures to combat various diseases.
The scientific foundations include the fundamental knowledge of physics about the processes of water crystallization, cryobiology - about the effects of extremely low temperatures on biological objects, laboratory thermometric studies in complex biological objects, experimental data and clinical aspects. The latter, in turn, consider the problems of cryopreservation , as well as revitalization of genetic and biological material, cryotherapy and cryosurgery .
Some methods of physiotherapy and local hypothermia can be considered close to cryogenic effects on humans by their nature (temperature factor), however, it is more correct not to include them in the field of cryomedicine and refer to medicine in the generally accepted sense of this term.
There are differences in the terms “cryomedicine” and “medical cryology”, since the first has a clear clinical focus, and “medical cryology” shifts the emphasis towards research directions and occupies an intermediate position between cryobiology and cryomedicine. The term “cryomedicine” is not generally accepted: in medical universities the subject of cryomedicine is not required for study, there are no corresponding textbooks. A medical specialty that would include the prefix “cryo” in its name also does not exist. This treatment method is not subject to special licensing in the institutions of Roszdravnadzor . Moreover, the terms “cryodestruction” and “cryotherapy” are officially used in the list of methods for treating patients with various diseases, as acceptable methods of treatment, both in the field of surgery and in therapy. Cryogenic technologies are used in many oncological specialties, in the treatment of patients with benign diseases, and most often in dermatology.
At the same time, cryogenic exposure is a potentially dangerous method of treatment, and its use requires special knowledge and additional training of doctors, given the fact that in most cases modern doctors do not have the basic theoretical knowledge and practical skills in using cryogenic temperature in clinical practice.