Tecar Therapy in Chronic Knee Osteoarthritis

Knee osteoarthritis is a degenerative, inflammatory, and chronic joint disease with an increasing incidence and prevalence worldwide. By causing pain, disability, and deterioration in quality of life, it constitutes a significant public health problem globally. Furthermore, the health, social, and economic burdens associated with chronic knee osteoarthritis are expected to increase in the future. For these reasons, and due to the rising incidence of the disease, clinicians are increasingly focusing on novel treatment strategies.

Currently, both surgical and non-surgical treatment modalities are used in the management of chronic knee osteoarthritis. The cornerstone of treatment consists of patient education, exercise, and weight control. Subsequent steps include pharmacological treatments, intra-articular injections, and physical therapy modalities. These modalities include transcutaneous electrical stimulation, therapeutic ultrasound, thermal modalities, laser therapy, extracorporeal shock wave therapy, electromagnetic field therapy, and capacitive and resistive electric transfer (Tecar therapy).

Tecar therapy is an endogenous diathermy modality that operates in the long-wave range using radiofrequency energy of approximately 0.5 MHz to heat the treated tissues. It consists of two electrodes-capacitive and resistive-with a long-wave current generator and multi-frequency sequential emission systems that deliver energy to tissues in two different modes. In the capacitive mode, an insulated electrode with a metal plate is generally used. The electrical charges generated by the radiofrequency generator accumulate near the insulated electrode, which acts as a dielectric surface. This method is used for the treatment of superficial tissues adjacent to the insulated electrode. In the resistive mode, two metal electrodes distribute electrical charges that tend to accumulate near bone, tendon, and connective tissue.

Tecar therapy has been shown to have positive effects on pain and quality of life in many patients with degenerative and inflammatory orthopedic conditions. Among diathermy modalities, Tecar therapy is considered one of the most appropriate and safe methods, as-unlike ultrasound-it has no limitation in terms of treatment area and does not cause excessive heat accumulation between the skin and the electrode .

To the best of our knowledge, there are very few studies investigating the use of Tecar therapy in chronic knee osteoarthritis. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the effects of Tecar therapy on pain, physical function, and physical capacity in patients with chronic knee osteoarthritis.

Inclusion criteria

• Patients with Kellgren-Lawrence stage 2 or 3 knee osteoarthritis
• Patients with bilateral knee pain for at least 6 weeks
• Male and female patients aged 40-75
• Patients who accept and sign the informed consent form

Exclusion criteria

• Those who have received physical therapy for knee pain in the last 6 months
• Those who have received intraarticular injection treatments such as hyaluronic acid, PRP, or steroids for knee pain in the last 6 months
• Those who have undergone knee surgery for any reason
• Those with inflammatory arthritis
• Those with existing neurological, cognitive, or psychiatric disorders
• Those with pacemakers
• Those with a history of malignancy
• Those with local vascular or sensory impairment
• Those with local or systemic infections
• Those with open wounds on the skin
• Pregnant or breastfeeding