EFFECTS OF THERAPEUTIC ULTRASOUND VERSUS TRANSCUTANEOUS ELECTRICAL NERVE STIMULATION TO REDUCE PAIN AND TO IMPROVE FUNCTIONAL ABILITY IN OSTEOARTHRITIS KNEE: A COMPARATIVE STUDY.

Background and Objectives: The study was done to find out the effectiveness of Ultrasound therapy and Transcutaneus electrical stimulation along with therapeutic exercise in Osteoarthritis knee. Methods: 30 subjects with clinical diagnosis of osteoarthritis of knee were randomly allocated in two study groups namely Group A and Group B each of 15 patients. Group A receives therapeutic ultrasound (UST) and therapeutic exercise & Group -B receives transcutaneous electrical stimulation (TENS) and same therapeutic exercise designed for OA knee, conducted five times a week for two weeks. The outcome of this intervention was measured in terms of WOMAC score, pain relief in terms of VAS, and active passive range of motion. Results: Graph Pad software was used for data analysis. t-test both paired?t? test & Unpaired?t? test for different study groups were used for statistical analysis. It was found that subjects treated with TENS & exercise group showed maximum improvement than UST & exercise group in terms of WOMAC index score, VAS, Active range of motion(flexion and extension), Passive range of motion(flexion and extension). However pain relief in terms of VAS was highly significant in both groups. Conclusion: It was concluded that TENS could be the better choice of modality than UST from the physiotherapy point of view in the management of osteoarthritis of the knee.