Abstract
Diathermy techniques embody an oscillating electrical current passaging through the body tissues generating therapeutic heat; use of this technique in the physiotherapy field has been introduced recently, and because there is scarce information, the following review is proposed, aiming to explore the available evidence on applying CRET in physiotherapy clinical practice and sports. A systematic search was led through a keyword search on PubMed, MedLine, DialNet, Scopus, PEDro, Web of Science and Clinicaltrials databases. Including randomised controlled trials and quasi-experimental studies, which applied radiofrequency diathermy in sports and physiotherapy fields, without any restrictions on dates, published in Spanish, English, Portuguese or Italian. Data extraction was conducted through the Cochrane data extraction form and presented in tabular format; 30 articles were included for analysis, and assessment of methodological quality was made through the PEDro scale with a “Good/Fair” general quality score. The nature of existing articles does not allow a quantitative analysis. Conclusion: identified fields of applications were musculoskeletal physiotherapy, treatment of pelvic floor and sexual dysfunctions, as well as dermato-functional physiotherapy and sports, evidencing an increase of skin temperature, enhanced skin and muscle blood perfusion, as well as reporting an increase in oxyhaemoglobin. Further research is needed. Prospero registration number: CRD42020215592.
Highlights
Introduction published maps and institutional affilElectrophysical agents, within the radiofrequency spectrum, include capacitive-resistive electric transfer (CRET), which consists of oscillating energy at specific frequencies generating therapeutic heat in body tissues, a technique known as diathermy [1].In a preliminary search for evidence, we found that this type of therapy has various effects at the cellular level [2,3,4,5]
This review collected and synthesised data from the scientific literature on the use of CRET, the existing evidence of its sportive usage is limited, and the main body of the results covered a wide variety of physiotherapeutic clinical fields, such as application in musculoskeletal pathology, pelvic floor dysfunction, dermato-functional application and gastrointestinal pathology
Numerous studies have shown CRET-induced changes in skin temperature, which is more effective in the resistive case than the capacitive and more prolonged, being up to 5.3% higher in a study that compared both cases during a follow-up of 45 min [17]
Summary
In a preliminary search for evidence, we found that this type of therapy has various effects at the cellular level [2,3,4,5]. CRET interferes with the synthesis and mobilisation of fats in the early phases of adipogenesis [2], simultaneously increasing the presence of mesenchymal cells; more concretely, those stem cells present in damaged tissues that are adipose-tissue derived [3]. In vitro evidence shows an enhancement of connective tissue regeneration after periods of intermittent exposure to a 448-kHz electric current, increasing the amount of mesenchymal cells while not compromising this stem cells capacity of Adipo-, Osteo- and Chondro-differentiation, suggesting that CRET electrotherapy could be applied as a complementary therapy in the healing process of a variety of tissular lesions [3].
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