The Acute Effect of Common Proneal Nerve Electrical Stimulation on Maximum Capacity of Quadriceps Activation in Patients with Knee Osteoarthritis

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the impact of the common peroneal nerve stimulation on the immediate activation of the maximum capacity of the quadriceps muscle in individuals with knee osteoarthritis.
A total of 15 patients with knee osteoarthritis (9 men and 6 women, with the mean age of 53.50) participated in the current research. Chharsrany muscle extension peak torque was assessed using a recently-designed device to measure muscle force on a single day in two stages (duing electrical stimulation of Chharsrany muscle and the common peroneal nerve).The reliability of the device (correlation coefficient traces ≥ 90/0, the standard deviation of ≤ 1/9 participants) was previously evaluated by Soltany and colleagues in the Biomechanics Laboratory, at the School of Rehabilitation Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran.
A significant difference was found between peak torque of quadriceps muscle extension, with the stimulation of Chharsrany muscle compared with that of the same musches extension stimulated with the common peroneal nerve.
Electrical stimulation of the common peroneal nerve with the voluntary maximum attempt of the individual to activate the quadriceps muscle, as used in the current study, is a useful way to strengthen this groups of muscles. This method may also be appropriate for the evaluation of physiotherapy or rehabilitation programs