Effects of high-intensity training and electrical stimulation on pain, disability, knee kinematic and performance in patellofemoral pain: a randomized controlled trial

Abstract

Patellofemoral pain (PFP) is a widespread problem in athletes who participate in jumping, cutting, and pivoting sports. Forty-four players participated in this study. They were divided into two groups: exercise plus Electro Myo Stimulation (EMS, G1) and exercise without EMS (G2), both with 12 women and 10 men. The exercise consisted of 8 weeks of a high-intensity strength program for 45-60 minutes, plus cooling and a warm-up phase. Visual analogue scale (VAS), disability (Kujala patellofemoral score), knee valgus angle (KVA) and single-leg hop (SLH) were tested before (pre-test) and after training (post-test at 8 weeks) using a within between group analysis (ANOVA 2×2). At baseline, no differences between groups were found (p > 0.05). After the intervention, both groups improved VAS, KVA, SLH (p 0,05). Después de la intervención, ambos grupos mejoraron EVA, KVA, SLH (p < 0,001) y discapacidad (p = 0,042). G1 mostró más mejoras que G2 en EVA (- 63,4 vs - 51,5 %, p = 0,021, p2 = 0,13), discapacidad (+ 32,6 vs + 18,4 %, p = 0,001, p2 = 0,52), KVA (+ 4,2 vs + 2,2 %, p = 0.016, p2 = 0.214) y SLH (+ 12.3 vs + 6.0 %, p = 0.003, p2 = 0.20) respectivamente. No se encontraron diferencias entre sexos para cada grupo. A pesar de que ambas intervenciones fueron válidas, el entrenamiento de fuerza de alta intensidad combinado con EMS mejoró el dolor, la discapacidad, la cinemática de la rodilla y el rendimiento de las extremidades inferiores más que el ejercicio solo en atletas profesionales de balonmano con PFP.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio