Improvement responses in patellar tendinopathy patients treated with ultrasound-guided galvanic electrolysis technique: A 3-year follow-up study.
case_series · Level IV
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 40655244.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1002/jeo2.70323 and PMC identifier 12255948.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
To determine the pattern changes over time in patients who experience different effects on the Victorian Institute of Sport Assessment-Patella score (VISA-P), International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC), Kujala score and Tegner activity score following 3 years of follow-up after an ultrasound-guided galvanic electrolysis technique (USGET) intervention in patellar tendinopathy. Fifty-one adult patients with patellar tendinopathy were followed for 3 years after undergoing USGET. Clinical evaluations were conducted at baseline, 3-, 6-, 12-, 24- and 36-month postintervention, evaluating the VISA-P, IKDC, Kujala score and Tegner activity score. The intervention was applied bimonthly for 3 months, accompanied by a biweekly standardised therapeutic exercises routine. Clinical outcomes were analysed with latent growth linear modelling (<i>α</i> = 5%), which assesses individual trajectories of change over time, capturing both initial status (intercepts) and rate of change (slopes) while accounting for variability across subjects. The mean intercepts were 58.9 pts (95% confidence interval [CI]: 55.2-67.8 pts, <i>p</i> < 0.001), 60.0 pts (95% CI: 56.7-64.0 pts, <i>p</i> < 0.001), 60.9 pts (95% CI: 55.8-65.4 pts, <i>p</i> < 0.001) and 3.6 pts (95% CI: 2.9-5.3 pts, <i>p</i> < 0.001) for VISA-P, IKDC, Kujala and Tegner activity score, respectively. The mean slopes were 6.3 pts (95% CI: 3.9-7.4 pts, <i>p</i> < 0.001), 5.7 pts (95% CI: 4.6-6.9 pts, <i>p</i> < 0.001), 5.1 pts (95% CI: 4.1-6.6 pts, <i>p</i> < 0.001) and 0.6 pts (95% CI: 0.4-1.0 pts, <i>p</i> < 0.001) for the VISA-P, IKDC, Kujala and Tegner activity score, respectively. USGET treatment demonstrates functionality restoration and pain decrease over time. The inflection point of clinical improvement was at 6 months, followed by a steady phase. There were positive patterns of increase in the linear slopes for VISA-P, IKDC, Kujala score and Tegner activity score observed in latent growth linear modelling. Level IV, case series with no comparison group.