Syed Ali Behram Subazwari, Sidra Qayyum, Zubair Ahmad, Nida Ishfaq, Amina Khalid, Layba Awais and Israa Anwar
Background/objectives: Few Investigations include a comparison of a conservative approach in the effectiveness of treatment for OA of the knee. Advantageous interventions may reduce the disability associated with OA of knee and need for more invasive treatment. The objective of the current study was to determine and compare the level of pain and physical function of patients with knee osteoartthritis receiving physiotherapy with and without intra articular injections in Lahore, Pakistan. Material and method: This experimental study conducted among knee OA patients of orthopedic clinics, physiotherapy and rehabilitation centers of Pakistan. 44 patients participated in the study. Patients of knee OA were equally divided into two groups A and B for the treatment of physiotherapy and a combination of physiotherapy plus intra articular injection respectively. Before treatment patients, physical functioning and pain score was measured by WOMAC and VAS scale. The intervention was applied according to given protocols. After treatment of 8 weeks, physical function and pain score was measured again by WOMAC and VAS scale to compare the result of both treatments. Result: The Improvement in VAS score in Group A was 2.81 ± 1 and in Group B was 3.4 ± 0.69 whereas improvement in WOMAC score in Groups A was 13.23 ± 8.29 and in Group B was 19.14 ± 5.92. P value calculated through independent sample t-test (0.02 and <0.009) show that there is a significant difference in the improvement level in both groups and improvement in Group B is significantly better than in Group A. Conclusion: Patients in both groups showed improvement in terms of pain and disability but the improvement in Group B was more as compared to improvement in Group A.
