Therapeutic efficacy of myofascial release for Patients with knee osteoarthritis.

Abstract

Purpose: To identify the efficacy of Myofascial Release along with conventional physiotherapy for Knee Osteoarthritis patients. Objectives: To compare intensity of pain, estimate range of motion (ROM), muscle power and functional outcome before and after application of Myofascial release along with conventional physiotherapy and conventional physiotherapy alone in patients with Knee Osteoarthritis. Methodology: 22 patients with Knee osteoarthritis were randomly selected from outdoor musculoskeletal unit, CRP and then 11 patients with Knee Osteoarthritis were randomly assigned to Myofascial release with conventional physiotherapy group and 11 patients to the only conventional physiotherapy group for this randomize control trial study. Outcome measurement tools: Numerical pain rating scale (NPRS) was used to measure pain and universal goniometer to measure ROM, manual muscle testing to measure muscle strength and The Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Arthritis Index (WOMAC) scale to measure disability. Analysis of data: Inferential statistics such as Mann-Whitney U test and Wilcoxon test was done using SPSS version 22. Results: In this study, the result shows that pain and disability had reduced and ROM and muscle strength improved (p < 0.05) in both between group analysis in Mann Whitney U test and in within group Wilcoxon Sign ranked test results except knee extension ROM and Quadriceps muscle strength (p > 0.05) in between groups and among Within (Control) group. Conclusion: This experimental study showed that Myofascial Release combined with conventional physiotherapy is more effective than conventional physiotherapy alone for patients with Knee Osteoarthritis. Key words: Knee Osteoarthritis, Myofascial Release, Conventional physiotherapy