Physical agents for pain management in patients with gonarthrosis

Background. Arthrosis has become a very common medical problem. In the literature there is little information about the conservative treatment of degenerative changes in the joint. The goal of our research was to assess the efficiency of selected physical agents (diadynamic electrical current, magnetic field, and ultrasound therapy) commonly used for pain management in the conservative treatment of gonarthrosis. Material and method. We examined 106 patients with degenerative changes in the knee joint. Pain evaluations using the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) were performed before treatment, and again on the third, fifth, and last day of treatment. Results. Each of the methods used showed at least 80% effectiveness. The early effects were seen with diadynamic current.. Conclusions. Our results show that each of the tested methods is very effective in managing pain. Significant differences do occur between the various methods in terms of the dynamics of their action over time.