Effects of kinesiotherapy, ultrasound and electrotherapy in management of bilateral knee osteoarthritis: prospective clinical trial.
Osteoarthritis (OA) is a chronic degenerative joint disease. Knee OA is expected to be the fourth highest cause of disability in women and is responsible for the deterioration of quality of life and functional capacity.
The main purpose of this study was to look into the results of kinesiotherapy and electrotherapy on functional capacity as assessed by the six-minute walk test (6-MWT). Other measurements included range of motion for extension and flexion of the knee, severity of knee pain, and the measure of perceived health and physical function (WOMAC Osteoarthritis Index). A total of 40 women with bilateral knee OA were assigned to three groups: kinesiotherapy (n= 16), transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) (n= 12), or ultrasound (n= 10). The groups underwent 12 weeks of intervention twice per week.
The main finding of the study was that the 6-MWT is a tool that can be used to evaluate improvements in the functional exercise capacity of patients submitted to a clinical intervention. Furthermore, the study outcomes showed that kinesiotherapy, TENS and ultrasound are effective for reducing pain and improving the WOMAC score and that kinesiotherapy and ultrasound are effective for increasing the 6-MWT performance.The authors assessed study outcomes only on pre- and post-tests, so they were not able to determine the outcomes of these interventions across time. > From: Mascarin et al., BMC Musculoskelet Disord 13 (2012) 182. All rights reserved to Mascarin et al.
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