Efficacy of the permanent magnets asociated to therapeutic exercises in patients with gonarthrosis. Teaching Military Hospital Dr. Mario Muñoz Monroy. June 2008-June 2009

Abstract

Gonarthrosis affects a high number of patients, and those who suffer it are chronic patients, with special characteristics because of the pain and depression experienced in consequence. Magnetotherapy, although it has been used against several rheumatic diseases, has not been used in gonartrosis associated to therapeutic exercises. So, we carried out an explicative, experimental, clinico-therapeutical trial-type study, to verify the efficacy of the permanent magnets associated to exercising, in patients with gonartrosis in the Teaching Military Hospital Dr. Mario Muñoz Monroy, of Matanzas. Two groups with 42 patients were formed, one experimental (magnets and exercises) and a control one, where the conventional treatment was used. We evaluated pain using the Test of Likert, the functional capacity using the Waddell one, and also the muscular strength and the join amplitude using goniometry. When the treatment was finished we made a final assessment in both groups, verifying that most of the patients had results between excellent and good, shown for pain decreasing, increasing of the join arc and the muscular strength, and also for the improvement of the disability they presented at the beginning, making a percentual correlation in both groups.