The impact of adding manual therapy and booster sessions to exercise therapy for knee OA .
Exercise, manual therapy, and use of booster sessions in physical therapy for knee osteoarthritis: a multi-center, factorial randomized clinical trial
Osteoarthritis Cartilage. 2016 Aug;24(8):1340-9300 patients with knee osteoarthritis were included in this 2x2 factorial randomized controlled trial. The objective of this trial was 2-fold; 1) determine if the addition of manual therapy to exercise therapy provided improvements in pain and function outcomes, and 2) determine if the use of booster sessions sustained the improvements observed at the short-term follow-up. Patients were randomized into 4 groups; 1) exercise therapy for 9 weeks with no booster sessions, 2) exercise and manual therapy for 9 weeks with no booster sessions, 3) exercise therapy for 9 weeks with booster sessions, or 4) exercise and manual therapy for 9 weeks with booster sessions. There were no differences between groups in the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) at 1 year. Manual therapy was associated with a transient effect of improving outcome on the WOMAC and the likelihood of being a treatment responder within the first 9 weeks, though these were not sustained at 12 months. The only significant effect observed with booster sessions was a significantly increased likelihood of being a treatment responder at 12 months.
Unlock the Full ACE Report
You have access to 4 more FREE articles this month.
Click below to unlock and view this ACE Reports
Unlock Now
Critical appraisals of the latest, high-impact randomized controlled trials and systematic reviews in orthopaedics
Access to OrthoEvidence podcast content, including collaborations with the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, interviews with internationally recognized surgeons, and roundtable discussions on orthopaedic news and topics
Subscription to The Pulse, a twice-weekly evidence-based newsletter designed to help you make better clinical decisions
Exclusive access to original content articles, including in-house systematic reviews, and articles on health research methods and hot orthopaedic topics