Thesis (M.Sc.) - Cairo University - Faculty of Physical Therapy - Department of Musculoskeletal Disorders

Background: Osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee involving predominantly the medial tibiofemoral compartment is common in older people, giving rise to pain and loss of function, neuromuscular exercises (NEMEX-TJR) are typically performed in functional weight-bearing positions emphasizing quality and efficiency of movement. Rigid taping (RT) is an efficient way of treatment of pain relief. Purpose: This study was conducted to detect the effect of NEMEX-TJR with RT versus strength training on proprioception accuracy and WOMAC index score in medial compartment knee OA. Methods: This study was conducted on thirty patients both genders with mild to moderate medial compartment knee OA. Their age ranged from 45-55 years. All patients were referred by the orthopedic surgeons who are responsible for diagnosis based on clinical and radiological examination. They were randomly assigned into two groups Group (A) received strength training exercises and Group (B) received NEMEX-TJR with RT for three sessions per week for one month. The digital inclinometer has been used to assess knee proprioception (joint position sense) and WOMAC scale used to assess function. Results: Showed that both strength training (group A) and NEMEX-TJR with RT ( group B) were effective in improving proprioception and WOMAC scale values , but strength training ( Group A) was slightly less effective than NEMEX-TJR with RT in improving WOMAC scale values without significant difference between both groups in proprioception accuracy Conclusion: It can be concluded that both strength training and NEMEX-TJR with RT are effective in the treatment of medial compartment knee OA in terms of proprioception accuracy and WOMAC scale values, with significant improvement of WOMAC scores in the favor of NEMEX-TJR with RT group

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