NCT01331174

Pulsed Short Wave in Females With Knee Osteoarthritis

Pulsed Short Wave in Females With Knee Osteoarthritis: A Multicenter, Randomized, Placebo-controlled Clinical Trial

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 121 (actual)
• Sponsor: Irmandade da Santa Casa de Misericordia de Sao Paulo · Academic / Other
• Sex: Female
• Age: 40 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

Study design: Randomized clinical trial. Objective: To evaluate the effect of PSW treatment in different doses and to compare to the control and placebo group. Background: Several forms of conservative treatment have been the focus of many recent studies in knee osteoarthritis (OA). Among these techniques, the application of pulsed short wave has been widely used, but the optimal dose and application time still have not been well established.

Detailed description

Methods: One hundred and twenty-one females (average ± sd age, 60 ± 9 years), with a diagnosis of knee OA were distributed randomly into 4 groups: 35 patients who did not receive any treatment (control), 23 patients in the placebo group, 32 patients in the low dose PSW group (14.5W, 19 minutes and 17KJ), and 31 patients in the high dose PSW group (14.5W, 38 minutes and 33KJ). An 11-point numerical pain rating scale (NPRS) and "Knee Osteoarthritis Outcome Score" (KOOS) were used to assess pain and function in 3 stages: initial evaluation (pre-treatment), immediately after post-treatment, and a 12-month follow up. Results: The 4 groups were homogeneous prior to treatment with respect to demographics, pain, and functional scales data. We demonstrated the short-term effectiveness of the PSW at low or high doses in patients with knee OA. Both treatment groups showed significant improvement in pain and function when compared to the control and placebo groups (P\<0.05). There were no differences between PSW doses, despite the fact that a low dose of PSW seems to be more effective in the long term. Conclusion: The PSW is an effective method for pain relief, functionality, and quality of life improvement in females with knee osteoarthritis in the short-term. On the basis of our results, we recommend PSW application in the female population with knee OA. However, conclusions regarding the 12-month follow up should be analyzed carefully due to the high dropout rate.

Conditions

• Chronic Diseases
• Knee Osteoarthritis

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
DEVICE	Pulsed short wave	The treatment was performed with 2 devices named Diatermed II (Carci, São Paulo, SP, Brazil), previously calibrated, carrying frequency of 27.12MHz, peak power of 250W, and pulse duration of 400µs. All these parameters are predetermined in the device according to the manufacturer. We used the maximum power provided by the machine in a pulsed form with a pulse frequency of 145Hz, resulting in a mean power of 14.5W.

Timeline

• Start date: 2006-08-01
• Primary completion: 2008-03-01
• Completion: 2008-12-01
• First posted: 2011-04-07
• Last updated: 2012-11-27