SUMMARY
Objective: To evaluate the effect of pulsed electromagnetic fields for the treatment of osteoarthritis of the knee and the combination of these with intra-articular injections of ozone in the elderly.
Method: A prospective, longitudinal was performed in 90 patients over 60 years of age with clinical and radiological diagnosis of knee osteoarthritis grade II and III refractory to medical treatment, who attended the consultation ozonoterapia polyclinic Ramp the period from January to March 2014. the sample was divided into three groups: 1) Control, they were applied NSAIDs 2) was applied 15 therapy sessions with pulsed electromagnetic frequency (PEMF). 3) They were given 10 sessions of intra-articular infiltrations with ozone. They were evaluated before and after completion of treatment with a six month follow up study extending to December 2014, the variables studied were: the degree of clinical improvement, the minimum amount of applications that improvement is achieved, the incidence of adverse events.
Results: The protocol used with PEMF therapy for osteoarthritis of the knee was much higher than the application of NSAIDs with a statistically significant difference (p <0.5) and the results were even better when combined with intra-articular injections with ozone. In the groups treated with ozone and pulsed electromagnetic frequencies with no adverse events were reported, with the application of aines gastrointestinal adverse events and high blood pressure were presented.
Conclusions: Treatment with pulsed electromagnetic fields and intra-articular injections with ozone to knee osteoarthritis grade II and III are safe and effective methods when applied as monotherapy and when combined potentiate each other.