Effects of Radiofrequency Diathermy Plus Therapeutic Exercises on Pain and Functionality of Patients with Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract

Although consensus has been reached about the use of therapeutic exercise in patellofemoral pain syndrome, several techniques used worldwide such as radiofrequency diathermy could be useful as complementary therapy. The objective of this randomized controlled trial was to compare the effects of adding radiofrequency diathermy to therapeutic exercises in patients with patellofemoral pain syndrome. Fifty-six participants were randomly assigned either to radiofrequency diathermy plus therapeutic exercises group (n = 29) or therapeutic exercises group (n = 27). Both groups received the same therapeutic exercises, and the diathermy group additionally received monopolar dielectric diathermy for three weeks (5–3–2 weekly sessions). Data related to intensity of pain, probability of neuropathic pain, functionality, and range of movement of the knee were measured at baseline and three weeks after the intervention. Comparing pre-treatment and values obtained at the third week, significant improvements were found in intensity of pain, neuropathic pain, functionality, and range of motion in both groups (p < 0.05). The diathermy plus exercises group had significantly better intensity of pain than the control group at the end of the three weeks (p < 0.01). The addition of diathermy by emission of radiofrequency to the therapeutic knee exercise protocol is more effective than a therapeutic exercise protocol alone in the relief of intensity of pain in patients with patellofemoral pain in the immediate post-treatment follow-up compared with baseline scores.

Non-Invasive Radiofrequency Diathermy Neuromodulation Added to Supervised Therapeutic Exercise in Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome: A Single Blind Randomized Controlled Trial with Six Months of Follow-Up

“…The modest improvements observed in this study in the control group could point out that more than a month of intervention with therapeutic knee exercises is needed to obtain the appropriate results. The pain relief experienced by participants of radiofrequency diathermy group could have facilitated their exercise performance, allowing them to obtain greater improvements in knee function, their range of movement and lower limb function, as was observed in previous studies [35]. This explanation agrees with the study of Kumaran and Watson (2019), in which 19 points of improvement on the WOMAC were obtained in knee osteoarthritis patients treated with radiofrequency diathermy added to exercises while poor results were observed in the control group [8].…”

Efficacy of Transcutaneous 4.4 MHz Radiofrequency Diathermy versus Therapeutic Ultrasound for Pain Relief and Functional Recovery in Patients with Knee Osteoarthritis: A Randomized Controlled Study

“…Previous studies have demonstrated the efficacy of 4.4 MHz RF diathermy in managing pain, such as low back pain and shoulder pain [ 9 , 10 ]. While there have been studies on RF diathermy for KOA, the frequencies applied in each study have varied [ 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 ]. However, there are still not enough prospective studies performed to investigate the effectiveness of 4.4 MHz RF diathermy in treating KOA.…”