Effectiveness Of Radial Extracorporeal Shockwave For Knee Osteoarthritis Treatment Guided By The Theory Of Soft Tissue Surgery

ObjectiveTo investigate the clinical effectiveness of radial extracorporeal shock wave guided by the theory of soft tissue surgery to add the treatment regions for treating patients with knee osteoarthritis.MethodsSixty patients with knee osteoarthritis admitted to our hospital from November2018 to November 2019 were enrolled and randomly divided into control group(n=30)and experimental group(n=30).The control group selected the tenderness points around knee joint,received radial extracorporeal shock wave therapy with energy flow density of 0.20-0.25 m J/mm~2,frequency of 10-12 Hz,4000 shocks in gross.The experimental group was added other two treatment regions,inner and lateral thighs,received radial extracorporeal shock wave therapy with energy flow density of 0.20-0.3 m J/mm2,frequency of 8-12 Hz,6000 shocks in gross.Both groups were treated once a week for four weeks.Before treatment,at 1 week,4 weeks and12 weeks of follow-up,the Visual Analogue Scale(VAS)and Western Ontario and Mc Master Universities Arthritis Index(WOMAC)were adopted to evaluate the changes in pain and function of knee joint in both groups.The12-item short-form health survey(SF-12)was used to assess patients’quality of life.The treatment-related adverse events were recorded in two groups.ResultsBefore treatment,there was no significant difference in general data between the two groups(P>0.05).At 1 week,4 weeks and 12 weeks of followup,the VAS scores and WOMAC scores in the two groups were both lower than those before treatment(P<0.05).The total physical score(PCS)of SF-12 after treatment was increased compared to that before treatment(P<0.05).The difference of the MCS before and after treatment was non-significant(P>0.05).At 1 week,4 weeks and 12weeks after treatment,the VAS scores of the experimental group were significantly reduced compared with those in control group at the same time point(P<0.05).While the WOMAC scores in experimental group was significantly lower than those in control group(P<0.05).Significant differences were found in the pain reduction,rigidness and function scores between the two groups(P<0.05).At 1week,4 weeks and 12 weeks after treatment,the scores of PCS in SF-12 of the experimental group were higher than control group(P<0.05),The difference of the scores of MCS between two groups were non-significant(P>0.05).No treatment-related adverse events were observed in both groups.ConclusionExtracorporeal shock wave therapy under the guidance of the theory of soft tissue surgeryto plus the treatment region for knee osteoarthritis could alleviate pain,restore knee joint function and improve quality of life effectively.