Efectividad de la diatermia por radiofrecuencia en el tratamiento de las patologías de rodilla. Una revisión sistemática

Abstract

Objective Radiofrequency diathermy is a treatment technique that increase temperature and metabolism of the biologic tissues by the emission of electromagnetic radiation. Even though this therapy is widely used, there are no reviews about its effectiveness in the treatment of knee pathologies. For this reason, the aim of this systematic review is to assess the efficacy of radiofrequency diathermy as conservative treatment for different knee pathologies. Methods A bibliographic search of randomized clinical trials was carried out in Pubmed, Scopus and WOS, using «Radiofrequency», «Capacitive», «Resistive», «Dielectric», «Knee» and «Diathermy» as descriptors. Only randomized clinical trials in English and Spanish from 2011 to date were chosen. PEDro scale was used to assess the quality of the studies. Results Four randomized clinical trials were selected according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. All studies showed positive results in favor to the experimental group regarding pain reduction and knee function. Conclusions Radiofrequency diathermy is an effective non-invasive therapy to improve the quality of life, the functionality and the pain in short-term in patients with different knee conditions.