RESUMEN
OBJECTIVE: This study examined the effects of treatment with Phyllanthus amarus nanoparticle gel applied by phonophoresis (PP) and ultrasound therapy (UT) in patients with symptomatic knee osteoarthritis (OA) using a randomized, double-blind, controlled trial. METHODS: Patients with knee OA (nâ¯=â¯40; mean age⯱â¯SD, 64.30⯱â¯9.71 years), who had visual analogue scale (VAS) scores for knee pain intensity of 68.00⯱â¯9.58 (UT group) and 71.00⯱â¯8.74 (PP group, respectively) before treatment, were randomly allocated into two groups. Both groups were treated with an ultrasound program in continuous mode, 1.0â¯W/cm2, 10â¯min per session, for 10 sessions. Nanoparticles of P. amarus were used in the PP group, whereas a nondrug coupling gel was used in the UT group. The 6-min walk test (6-MWT) was performed to evaluate functional capacity. The VAS and the 6-MWT were evaluated before and after 10 treatment sessions in both groups using a double-blind procedure. RESULTS: VAS and 6-MWT showed significant improvement after treatment in both groups (pâ¯<â¯0.05). The PP group showed more significant effects than the UT group, in terms of both reducing the VAS pain score (pâ¯<â¯0.05) and improving 6-MWT (pâ¯<â¯0.05). CONCLUSIONS: PP is suggested as an effective method for the treatment of symptomatic knee OA for reducing pain and improving functional capacity.