The Effect of Compression Knee Band and Heat Treatment on Blood Velocity of the Elderly with Osteoarthritis

Abstract

: The purpose of this study was to investigate the change in blood velocity(mm/sec) when compression and/ or heat were applied to the knee joint for the elderly who has both normal and painful legs with osteoarthritis(OA). Experimental compression knee band was prepared from the 3D knee data of the average women in 60's. 3D replica of knee was reduced by 7, 10, and 13% from the nude pattern in course direction. Clothing pressure was measured at the front and back of each healthy and painful knee of elderly women for one minute while standing and sitting on the chair. Blood velocity was measured at 13 cm upper from the mid-patella for 15 minutes. Results are as follows: first, compression or heating treatment itself did not change blood velocity of both legs; second, combination treatment with heating and compression was effective to increase blood velocity. In details, for healthy legs, combination treatments with compression by 10% reduced pattern(about 1.3kPa) and heating(43 o C) induced the maximal blood velocity, however, for knees with OA, 7% reduced pattern(about 1.0kPa) with simultaneous heating(43 o C) was more effective than other cases. These results indicated that pain and spasticity of knee joint with OA could be reduced by applying heat and compression therapy, where the compression level of painful knee should be slightly lower than of healthy leg.