Abstract

Background and Aim: Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is one of the most common degenerative diseases and a leading cause of severe pain and disability. Different methods have been suggested for treatment of OA. This study compared the effect of different percentages of patient’s body weight (%BW) traction technique on pain intensity and disabilitylevel of patients.

Methodology: 30 patients with chronic (OA) of the knee were purposively recruited and randomly allocated into groups of %BW (10%,20%, 30%). Skin traction kit Traction was administered to the affected patient’s knee in sitting position with knee joint in loose pack at hip perpendicular to the knee position on 15 0 elevations of the affected knee joint by the bed side. The suspended weight that is %BW in form of sandbag was attached to the kit. Cryotherapy was applied to the affected knee joint during the traction session for 15 minutes. The traction period was for 20 minutes, the patient rested for 5 minutes before bearing weight on the treated lower limb. The patient’s pain intensity and disability were assessed with Visual analogue Scale (VAS) and Ibadan Hip Knee Osteoarthritis (IKHOAM) respectively at pre intervention 1st, 3rd and 6th week (|p>0.05).

Results: Thirty patients (Female 18 (60%), Male 12 (40%) diagnosed of knee OA were recruited for this experimental study. There was significant change in the pain intensity using different percentages of body weight across weeks (10%: F=8.76; p=0.001), (20%: F=7.34, p =0.003), (30%: F=7.34, p= 0.003). And there was no significant change in disability level for 10% and 20% BW, however, there was significant change of 30% BW at 6th week on disability (F= 3.42, p=0.05).

Conclusion: 20% BW was more effective on pain intensity and 30%BW on disability level of patient with knee OA.