Manual Therapy With Cryotherapy Versus Kinesiotherapy With Cryotherapy for Knee Osteoarthritis: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Context. Manual therapy and kinesiotherapy are used for knee osteoarthritis (OA). Yet, a clear evidence of the effects of manual therapy versus kinesiotherapy on knee OA is limited. The addition of cryotherapy to manual therapy or to kinesiotherapy may enhance the health benefits in patients with knee OA. Objective. The study intended to evaluate the efficacy of manual therapy combined with cryotherapy versus kinesiotherapy combined with cryotherapy for patients with knee OA. Design. The research team designed a randomized, controlled trial. Setting. The study occurred in the Physiotherapy Outpatient Department of the Regional Hospital (Sandomierz, Poland). Participants. The participants were 128 females and males with knee OA, aged 40 to 80 y, who were patients in the department at the hospital. Intervention. The participants were randomly assigned to an intervention group that received manual therapy combined with cryotherapy, the MT-C group (n = 64), or to a control group, which received kinesiotherapy combined with cryotherapy, the KIN-C group (n = 64). The participants in both groups received 10 treatments, 2 per wk for 5 wk. Outcome Measures. The primary outcome was measured using a visual analog scale pain ratings. The secondary outcome measured the quality of life using the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities questionnaire, knee extension, and flexion range of motion using the goniometer, and functional capacity using the 6-min walk test. Results. After the treatments, the intervention group had significantly lower scores than the control group for pain, as well as significantly higher scores for quality of life, range of motion of the affected knee, and functional capacity. Conclusion. The patients achieved better health benefits from manual therapy when it was combined with cryotherapy.