Eli's Rehab Report

Published on Tue Jul 26, 2011 PDF

Reduce women's pain with pulsed shortwave treatment -- at any dose.

Pulsed Shortwave Treatment in Women With Knee Osteoarthritis: A Multicenter, Randomized, Placebo- Controlled Clinical Trial. Fukuda, TY, Alves da Cunha, R, Fukuda, VO, Rienzo, FA, Cazarini Jr, C, Carvalho, NAA, Centini, AA. Phys Ther, 91:1009-1017.

Want to reduce pain for female patients with osteoarthritis in their knees? Pulsed shortwave (PSW) treatment may be the way to go -- and you don't need a very high dose of it, a new study reveals.

The study tracked 121 women with a median age of 60 years in a hospital setting to better understand the optimal dose and application for PSW treatment. They also hoped compare the outcomes of high-dose treatment with low-dose treatment.

Breakdown: Researchers divided participants into four groups: 35 participants acted as the control group and received no treatment, 23 received a placebo treatment, 32 received a low-dose PSW treatment for 19 minutes, and 31 received a high-dose PSW treatment for 38 minutes.

Patients then assessed their pain using the Knee Osteoarthritis Outcome Score's 11-point numerical rating scale at three points in time: initial evaluation, immediately after treatment, and one year later.

Outcome: While the women all began treatment with similar demographic, pain, and functional scale data, the groups diverged during and after PSW treatment. Neither the control nor placebo group showed any changes; however, both the low- and high-dose groups showed significant improvements in pain reduction and quality of life.

Most interestingly for researchers, the outcomes didn't vary according to the level of PSW dose the patients received -- in the short term. At the follow-up mark, the group that received a low dose appeared to fare better and have more lasting relief.

Lesson learned: PSW treatment should be on your radar when working with women who have osteoarthritic knees, researchers concluded. And you don't need to over do it -- just 19 minutes of a low dose led to long-term improvements, they noted.