Neuromuscular electrical stimulation , exercises against resistance , muscle strength , pain , and motor function in patients with primary osteoarthritis of the knee

Introduction: Knee osteoarthritis is a degenerative process and its symptoms are mechanical pain and periods of inflammatory pain, joint stiffness, and muscle weakness. It has no cure and the treatment objective is relieving signs and symptoms and, whenever possible, slowing down its evolution. Muscle strengthening is indicated as treatment for osteoarthritis. Objective: Compare the effectiveness of neuromuscular electrical stimulation and resistance against exercise in the gain of knee extensor strength, in pain reduction, and in the recovery of motor function in patients with primary knee osteoarthritis. Materials and methods: The research had the participation of 23 patients diagnosed with primary knee osteoarthritis, according to the clinical and radiological criteria of the American College of Rheumatology. They were randomly allocated to a group of resistance against exercise (n = 9), a group of neuromuscular electrical stimulation (n = 8), and a control group (n = 6), and they underwent characteristic procedures of their group 3 times a week until completing 24 sessions. Knee extensor strength, pain, and motor function were evaluated in a blind way. We used the 3 x 2 MANOVA test with repeated measurements, for p < 0.05. Results: A significant difference (p < 0.05) was found just in intra-group comparisons for knee extensor strength only in the group neuromuscular electrical