Neuro-muscular Exercise Training Verses Quadriceps Training in Mild to Moderate Knee Osteoarthritis

The knee joint is a complex modified hinge joint with the greatest range of movement. Three bones come together to form the joint, which are the femur, tibia, and patella. Osteoarthritis, commonly known as wear-and-tear arthritis, is a condition in which the natural cushioning between joints, cartilage wears away. The bones of the joints rub more closely against one another with less of the shock-absorbing benefits of cartilage. The rubbing results in pain, swelling, stiffness, decreased ability to move and, sometimes, the formation of bone spurs.

Osteoarthritis is widespread among physically active individuals . The quadriceps weakness commonly associated with osteoarthritis of the knee is widely believed to result from disuse atrophy secondary to pain in the involved joint. However, quadriceps weakness may be an etiologic factor in the development of osteoarthritis. Several studies have indicated that Physical modalities for the treatment of knee pain in patients with osteoarthritis include physical therapy, exercise, weight loss, and the use of braces or heel wedges. High- and low-intensity aerobic exercises are equally effective in improving functional status, gait, pain, and aerobic capacity in persons with knee osteoarthritis water-based and land-based exercises reduce knee pain and physical disability and aerobic walking, quadriceps strengthening, resistance exercise reduce pain and disability.Several proptocols are available for management of knee joint osteoarthritis. These protocols include Neuro motor training exercise and isolated quadriceps training program. Neuromotor training is basically combination of three parts warming up, a circuit program, and cooling down. Main principle of Neuro-motor training is to improve sensorimotor control and compensatory functional stability.[3]Patients with symptomatic osteoarthritis pain, stiffness, flexibility and decreases range of motion is a common clinical finding. Flexibility is an important component of fitness needed for most desirable musculoskeletal functioning and maximizing the performance of physical activities. Flexibility is a biomechanical property of the body tissues and it determines the range of motion possible without injury at a joint or group of joints. Decrease range of motion has been shown to predispose a person to several musculoskeletal overuse injuries and considerably affect a person level of function.Changes in joint appearance/ joint deformities be one of the more commonly established causes of osteoarthritis. The target in treating patients with OA should be the safest possible intervention, with the best pain relief and prevention of further functional disability. Neuromotor training is also one of the treatment option related to physical therapy in reducing knee pain with home plane exercises to gain required ROM and resume function. Time up and go test (TUG test).the tug is internationally accepted functional dynamic test of balance with known reliability and validity as well as being low cost and easy to apply. The tug test measures the time in seconds that takes a subject to stand up from chair and sit down. Subject will score less than 10 seconds are consider normal, less than 15 sec are at risk of fall ,less than 20 sec are independent in ambulation and able to climb the stairs, and greater than 30 seconds need help with chair. The 30 Second Chair Stand Test, in conjunction with other measures such as the 4-Stage Balance Test, Timed Up and Go (TUG) Test and an assessment of postural hypotension can help to indicate if a patient is at risk of falling. Purpose is to test leg strength and endurance Equipment: A chair with a straight back, without arm rests, placed against a wall to prevent it moving. Sit in the middle of the chair. Place each hand on the opposite shoulder crossed at the wrists. Place your feet flat on the floor. Keep your back straight and keep your arms against your chest. On "Go", rise to a full standing position and then sit back down again. Repeat this for 30 seconds. On "Go" begin timing. Do not continue if you feel the patient may fall during the test. Count the number of times the patient comes to a full standing position in 30 seconds and record it in the box below. If the patient is over halfway to a standing position when 30 seconds have elapsed, count it as a stand. If the patient must use his or her arms to stand then stop the test and record "0" for the number below.The western Ontario and McMaster universities osteoarthritis (womac) is a widely used by health professionals to evaluate the condition of patient with osteoarthritis of knee . womac measures 5 items for pain score 0-20. 2 for stiffness score 0-8 and 17 for functional limitation score 0-68. Physical functioning question of daily activities such as siting standing walking lying on bed taking of socks getting in or out of bath. Numeric pain rating scale (NPRs) is used for measure of pain intensity. In NPRS 0-10 integers that best reflects the intensity of pain. 0 represent no pain.

Previous studies were more focused on hydrotherapeutic exercises, muscle stretching strengthening, aerobics. There is still a challenge to explore best type of exercise therapy for improving sensorimotor function, alleviating symptoms and showing the disease process in different sub groups of patients with degenerative knee disease