Phisical modalities on the functional performance in knee osteoarthritis: a sytematic review

Abstract

Introduction: Despite recent advances in the treatment of osteoarthritis (OA), few studies have evaluated the longitudinal effect of physical modalities in functional capacity in patients with knee OA. Thereby, since the physical components and pain can affect the functional performance of daily activities, the effect of these treatment's form is still to be established. Objective: Evaluate the effectiveness of therapeutic ultrasound, electrical stimulation and phototherapy in the functional performance, in patients with knee osteoarthritis. Methods: Articles present in the PubMed, Lilacs, SciELO and PEDro's databases were evaluated. The used keywords were "pulsed ultrasound therapy", "ultrasound therapy", "electric stimulation" and "low level laser therapy" in combination with "knee osteoarthritis". Were included in this presented review, randomized clinical studies using ultrasound, electrical and laser stimulation in subjects with knee osteoarthritis. To evaluate the methodological quality of the selected studies, was used the PEDro's scale. The dependent variables of the study were: pain, physical function, joint stiffness, life quality and functional performance.

Does TENS Reduce the Intensity of Acute and Chronic Pain? A Comprehensive Appraisal of the Characteristics and Outcomes of 169 Reviews and 49 Meta-Analyses

“…In 2016, Chen et al [ 77 ] published a review of 23 studies on TENS for knee osteoarthritis and concluded that TENS might relieve pain due to knee osteoarthritis based on a meta-analysis that did not report the size of the pooled data sample. In 2017, Ferronato et al [ 134 ] published a systematic review of physical modalities on functional performance in knee osteoarthritis and concluded that “… TENS seems to be as or more effective than other analgesic therapies ”.…”

Efficacy and Effectiveness of Physical Agent Modalities in Complex Regional Pain Syndrome Type I: A Scoping Review

“…Instrumental physiotherapy is a branch of rehabilitation that uses physical agents for therapeutic purposes. These approaches help to manage chronic pain associated with specific conditions [13], such as low back pain [14] and knee osteoarthritis [15], although their role in the treatment of CRPS-I is not well investigated. Furthermore, even less evidence about therapeutic parameters used to treat CRPS-I, such as intensity, duration, frequency and timing is available.…”