Effect of Mechanical Traction and Therapeutic Exercises in Treatment of Primary Knee Osteoarthritis

NCT ID: NCT04830748

Last Updated: 2022-12-08

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

COMPLETED

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

40 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2022-05-01

Study Completion Date

2022-12-01

Brief Summary

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The purpose of this study is to compare between therapeutic exercises and therapeutic exercises preceded by mechanical traction in treatment of patients with primary knee osteoarthritis attributed to the outcomes of pain, muscle strength, functional disability and functional performance.

Hypotheses

1. There will be no significant difference between therapeutic exercises and therapeutic exercises preceded by mechanical traction on reduction of knee pain severity in patients with primary knee osteoarthritis.
2. There will be no significant difference between therapeutic exercises and therapeutic exercises preceded by mechanical traction on reduction of functional disability in patients with primary knee osteoarthritis.
3. There will be no significant difference between therapeutic exercises and therapeutic exercises preceded by mechanical traction on increasing isometric quadriceps muscle strength in patients with primary knee osteoarthritis.
4. There will be no significant difference between therapeutic exercises and therapeutic exercises preceded by mechanical traction on increasing isometric hamstring muscle strength in patients with primary knee osteoarthritis.
5. There will be no significant difference between therapeutic exercises and therapeutic exercises preceded by mechanical traction on decreasing walking time in patients with primary knee osteoarthritis.
6. There will be no significant difference between therapeutic exercises and therapeutic exercises preceded by mechanical traction on decreasing ascending and descending stairs time in patients with primary knee osteoarthritis.

Detailed Description

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Knee osteoarthritis is the most common cause of musculoskeletal pain and disability, resulting in major disability and pain in affected individuals. It is a chronic degenerative disorder of multifactorial aetiology, including acute and/or chronic insults from normal wear and tear, age, obesity and joint injury. It nearly affects about one in each eight adults worldwide, its prevalence rates vary from 7.8 to 9.3% in Egyptian population.

Current clinical guidelines recommend non pharmacological conservative strategies including physical therapy given their ease of application and relatively low cost with minimal adverse effects (e.g.: strengthening exercises, aerobic exercises, stretching exercises, hydrotherapy, manual therapy, massage therapy, thermotherapy, electrotherapy, ultrasound therapy, external support braces and taping).

It was reported that therapeutic exercise is beneficial for patients with knee osteoarthritis in terms of outcomes of pain, function, performance and quality of life. In addition, it was reported that strengthening, flexibility and neuromotor skill exercises have a large efficacy over aerobic and mind body exercise.

Unloading strategies should be proposed as a first line of therapy for the patient with knee osteoarthritis before any attempts are made at tissue regeneration, repair or replacement.

Manual or mechanical knee joint distraction is a conservative technique that provides transient joint separation and unloading that aids in improving clinical symptoms of patients.

Addition of mechanical knee distraction to therapeutic exercises helps in gaining the positive effects of both exercise and unloading techniques. Although this approach has not been used extensively or applied pragmatically, several studies were found showing promising results in terms of reducing pain at both rest and movement, improving knee flexion and extension range of motion, reducing disability, increasing functional abilities and improving the quality of life of patients.

Forty male and female patients with the diagnosis of primary knee osteoarthritis will be recruited in this study. All patients will be assessed and treated in the outpatient clinic of the faculty of physical therapy, Cairo University. Patients will be randomly distributed into 2 equal experimental groups: the first experimental group will receive therapeutic exercises (stretching and strengthening exercise) while the second experimental group will receive mechanical traction of the knee followed by therapeutic exercises. All patients will be treated for 12 sessions, 3 times per week each other day for 4 weeks. Clinical assessments will include assessment of pain severity, functional disability, isometric muscle strength, and functional performance.

Conditions

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Knee Osteoarthritis

Study Design

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Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

2 groups

The first group will include 20 patients and will receive therapeutic exercises in the form of stretching and strengthening exercises of the knee.

The second group will include 20 patients and will receive the same exercise program of the first group preceded by continuous mechanical traction of the knee.
Primary Study Purpose

TREATMENT

Blinding Strategy

DOUBLE

Participants Outcome Assessors
Patients will be blinded to study hypotheses and informed only about comparing different programs of treatment of knee osteoarthritis. After randomization, participants will only be provided with details of the program they will be undertaking.

Study Groups

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Therapeutic exercises group

The first group will receive therapeutic exercises in the form of stretching and strengthening exercises of the knee.

Group Type ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Therapeutic exercises

Intervention Type OTHER

Therapeutic exercises will be divided into stretching and strengthening exercises:

Stretching will be done passively for the hamstring, rectus femoris and calf muscles. Each exercise will be done for 3 reps each with a hold period of 30-60 secs with a 30-60 rest period between reps.

Strengthening exercises will be done for the quadriceps and hamstring muscles ( inner range knee extension- knee extension in sitting- straight leg raise in flexion- prone hamstring curl- standing hamstring curl- straight leg raise in extension). Exercise will be done for 3 sets each will consist of 10 reps with a rest period of 2-3 minutes between sets. The starting weight should be 50% of the patient's 1 RM. The end position will be held for 5 seconds. Progression will be achieved by increasing the exercise rep and intensity gradually throughout the program. E.g.: weekly increase force by 5% if patient can tolerate an increased repetition of 20 rep with the preset force.

Therapeutic exercises and mechanical traction group

The experimental group will receive the same exercise program of the first group preceded by continuous mechanical traction of the knee.

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Mechanical knee traction

Intervention Type OTHER

Continuous knee joint mechanical traction will be applied to the patients positioned in supine lying position with the affected knee flexed at 25-30 degrees by a wedge placed under the affected knee. The thigh will be secured with a strap for stabilization and the leg will be held by the specially designed greave with the weight of traction hanging throughout a pulley system. The amount of traction will be set to about 10% of body weight. The treatment will be applied for 20 minutes continuously, once a day, 3 times per week for 4 weeks. The traction force will be progressed gradually during the program ( e.g.: weekly increase force by 1% of body weight if the patient can tolerate the duration of 20 min with the preset force).

Therapeutic exercises

Intervention Type OTHER

Therapeutic exercises will be divided into stretching and strengthening exercises:

Stretching will be done passively for the hamstring, rectus femoris and calf muscles. Each exercise will be done for 3 reps each with a hold period of 30-60 secs with a 30-60 rest period between reps.

Strengthening exercises will be done for the quadriceps and hamstring muscles ( inner range knee extension- knee extension in sitting- straight leg raise in flexion- prone hamstring curl- standing hamstring curl- straight leg raise in extension). Exercise will be done for 3 sets each will consist of 10 reps with a rest period of 2-3 minutes between sets. The starting weight should be 50% of the patient's 1 RM. The end position will be held for 5 seconds. Progression will be achieved by increasing the exercise rep and intensity gradually throughout the program. E.g.: weekly increase force by 5% if patient can tolerate an increased repetition of 20 rep with the preset force.

Interventions

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Mechanical knee traction

Continuous knee joint mechanical traction will be applied to the patients positioned in supine lying position with the affected knee flexed at 25-30 degrees by a wedge placed under the affected knee. The thigh will be secured with a strap for stabilization and the leg will be held by the specially designed greave with the weight of traction hanging throughout a pulley system. The amount of traction will be set to about 10% of body weight. The treatment will be applied for 20 minutes continuously, once a day, 3 times per week for 4 weeks. The traction force will be progressed gradually during the program ( e.g.: weekly increase force by 1% of body weight if the patient can tolerate the duration of 20 min with the preset force).

Intervention Type OTHER

Therapeutic exercises

Therapeutic exercises will be divided into stretching and strengthening exercises:

Stretching will be done passively for the hamstring, rectus femoris and calf muscles. Each exercise will be done for 3 reps each with a hold period of 30-60 secs with a 30-60 rest period between reps.

Strengthening exercises will be done for the quadriceps and hamstring muscles ( inner range knee extension- knee extension in sitting- straight leg raise in flexion- prone hamstring curl- standing hamstring curl- straight leg raise in extension). Exercise will be done for 3 sets each will consist of 10 reps with a rest period of 2-3 minutes between sets. The starting weight should be 50% of the patient's 1 RM. The end position will be held for 5 seconds. Progression will be achieved by increasing the exercise rep and intensity gradually throughout the program. E.g.: weekly increase force by 5% if patient can tolerate an increased repetition of 20 rep with the preset force.

Intervention Type OTHER

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* Patients will have grade II of primary knee osteoarthritis.
* Patients with bilateral primary knee osteoarthritis, the more painful knee will be selected as the affected knee in this study.
* Age of patients will range from 45 years to 65 years old.
* Duration of illness will range from 3- 12 months.

Exclusion Criteria

* Malignancy
* presence of skin lesions or infections at the treatment sites
Minimum Eligible Age

45 Years

Maximum Eligible Age

65 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sponsors

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Cairo University

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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moaaz ragab riyad amin

Teaching assistant at faculty of physical therapy

Responsibility Role PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

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Karima Abdelaty Hassan, lecturer

Role: STUDY_DIRECTOR

Cairo University

Ibrahim Magdy Elnaggar, Prof

Role: STUDY_DIRECTOR

Cairo University

Locations

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Faculty of physical therapy Cairo university

Cairo, Giza Governorate, Egypt

Site Status

Countries

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Egypt

References

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Other Identifiers

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MT & TE & 1ry KOA

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id

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