Efficacy of glucosamine compounds phonophoresis in knee osteoarthritis

Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common joint disease characterized by deterioration of articular cartilage. Pharmacological treatments mainly emphasize on the regeneration of articular cartilage. Glucosamine sulfate is used as a cartilage protective substance with controversial results. This study was designed to investigate the efficacy of glucosamine phonophoresis on the knee osteoarthritis.
This clinical trial was performed on 41 female patients aged 45-75 years (21 unilateral and 20 bilateral cases). Patients randomly assigned into one of three groups. Group 1: This group received standard treatment with ultrasound (US)/off (n=15); Group 2: This group received standard treatment with US/on (n=12) (US was in continuous mode at frequency of 1 MHz and 0.3 watt/cm2 intensity, 5 min duration increasing gradually during the treatment sessions) and Group 3: This group received glucosamine phonophoresis (with equal ratio of %50 gel and glucosamine, and US/on as the same parameters). All treatment sessions were done daily on the dominant knee and for 30 sessions. Standard treatment included daily and on the dominant knee infrared, transcutaneous ekectrical stimulation and exercise. Pain, active knee flexion range of motion, swelling of knee joint, morning stiffness and quality of life (QOL) of all participants were measured before and after the intervention.
The data showed significant improvement in OA criteria (more decreased pain; swelling and morning stiffness, improvement in knee flexion and QOL index) in the intervention group than other placebo groups (P Considering the etiology of disease, administration of treatments aimed on healing of articular cartilage seems to be more effective in the prevention of disease progression. Phonophoresis of glucosamine combination could be promising