Abstract
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. Results: 268 studies were found, of these, 41 studies met eligibility criteria and were classified for analysis in full. The used methodology in the studies varied widely, however, in most cases there was improvement in functional performance of individuals with knee OA, with the use of physical modalities, for the pulsed ultrasound, continuous ultrasound, electrical stimulation and laser resourses. Conclusion: The physical modalities used in the studies demonstrated improvement in functional performance of individuals with knee OA.
Highlights
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
The physical modalities used in the studies demonstrated improvement in functional performance of individuals with knee OA
Scientific evidences used in this review show that the neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES)
Summary
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. 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. The knee OA may affect the activities of daily life, reducing the strength, power and muscular endurance, providing decrease in proprioceptive acuity and body balance. These changes may affect the subjective perception of pain, stiffness and physical function and hinder the performance of functional activities, such as, walking, lifting and sit in a chair and up and down stairs [2]. The objective of non pharmacological treatments, including physical therapy, is the relief of the signs and symptoms of the disease and, if possible, the delay in progression, being that various treatments have been used for this purpose, including therapeutic ultrasound [5], electrical stimulation [5, 6] and the low power laser [7]
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