Article

OBJECTIVE: To compare the effects of intra-articular hyaluronic acid (HA; ARTZ)
and transcutaneous electric nerve stimulation (TENS) in the treatment of patients
with knee osteoarthritis. DESIGN: A prospective, randomized controlled trial.
SETTING: Rehabilitation clinic of a teaching hospital. PARTICIPANTS: Patients
with knee osteoarthritis (N=50; aged 51-80y) were randomly assigned to the HA
group (n=27) or the TENS group (n=23). INTERVENTIONS: The HA group received
intra-articular HA injection into the affected knee once a week for 5 consecutive
weeks, and the TENS group received a 20- minute session of TENS 3 times a week
for 4 consecutive weeks. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcome measures used
were the visual analog scale (VAS) for pain and the Lequesne index. The secondary
outcome measures were range of motion of the knee, walking time, pain threshold,
patient global assessment, and disability in activities of daily living. All
subjects were assessed at baseline, and at 2 weeks, 2 months, and 3 months after
the treatments were completed. RESULTS: The TENS group exhibited a significantly
greater improvement in VAS than the HA group at 2 weeks' follow-up (4.17 +/- 1.98
vs 5.31 +/- 1.78, respectively; P=.03). In addition, the TENS group also
exhibited a significantly greater improvement in the Lequesne index than the HA
group at 2 weeks' follow-up (7.78 +/- 2.08 vs 9.85 +/- 3.54, respectively; P=.01)
and at 3 months' follow-up (7.07 +/- 2.85 vs 9.24 +/- 4.04, respectively; P=.03).
CONCLUSIONS: TENS with silver spike point electrodes was observed to be more
effective than intra-articular HA injection for patients with knee osteoarthritis
in improving the VAS for pain at 2 weeks' follow-up as well as the Lequesne index
at 2 weeks' and 3 months' follow-up.
CI - Copyright (c) 2013 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by
Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Langue : ANGLAIS