Efficacy and Safety of a Stimulator Using Low-Intensity Pulsed Ultrasound Combined with Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation in Patients with Painful Knee Osteoarthritis

Table 2

Comparison of outcomes between the groups.

Variables	V1	V2	V3	Time X group; value
VAS-P1
Only TENS group	4.00 (0.32)	2.47 (0.36)	2.63 (0.43)	0.080
LIPUS + TENS group	4.16 (0.34)	1.89 (0.21)	2.53 (0.29)
VAS-P2
Only TENS group	4.95 (0.35)	3.16 (0.41)	3.00 (0.45)	0.022
LIPUS + TENS group	4.89 (0.29)	2.21 (0.18)	2.74 (0.20)
VAS-P3
Only TENS group	2.68 (0.31)	1.32 (0.39)	1.05 (0.36)	0.047
LIPUS + TENS group	3.00 (0.26)	1.05 (0.19)	1.53 (0.23)
WOMAC
Pain
Only TENS group	7.53 (0.84)	4.63 (0.84)	4.26 (0.86)	0.160
LIPUS + TENS group	8.63 (0.71)	4.53 (0.58)	5.32 (0.71)
Stiffness
Only TENS group	1.26 (0.41)	0.58 (0.29)	0.74 (0.35)	0.298
LIPUS + TENS group	1.53 (0.35)	0.68 (0.25)	0.58 (0.19)
Physical function
Only TENS group	20.89 (2.71)	13.84 (2.38)	10.79 (2.21)	0.026
LIPUS + TENS group	25.05 (2.57)	13.89 (1.99)	15.84 (2.31)
Total
Only TENS group	29.68 (3.63)	19.05 (3.30)	15.79 (3.22)	0.055
LIPUS + TENS group	35.21 (3.38)	19.11 (2.67)	21.74 (3.03)
FAC thickness (cm)
Medial
Only TENS group	0.20 (0.01)	0.20 (0.01)	0.21 (0.01)	0.453
LIPUS + TENS group	0.20 (0.01)	0.20 (0.01)	0.20 (0.01)
Central
Only TENS group	0.21 (0.01)	0.21 (0.01)	0.21 (0.01)	0.635
LIPUS + TENS group	0.20 (0.01)	0.20 (0.01)	0.20 (0.01)
Lateral
Only TENS group	0.20 (0.01)	0.20 (0.01)	0.20 (0.01)	0.666
LIPUS + TENS group	0.20 (0.01)	0.20 (0.01)	0.20 (0.01)
SF-36 global score
Only TENS group	58.25 (3.92)	66.34 (3.72)	67.34 (4.18)	0.659
LIPUS + TENS group	59.11 (3.81)	69.85 (2.73)	67.80 (2.53)

Data are presented as mean (SE). . V1, visit 1 (pretreatment); V2, visit 2 (posttreatment period 1); V3, visit 3 (posttreatment period 2); TENS, transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation; LIPUS, low-intensity pulsed ultrasound; VAS, visual analogue scale (range, 1 to 10), with higher values indicating worse outcomes; VAS-P1, visual analogue scale for knee pain at the current moment; VAS-P2, visual analogue scale for knee pain with movement; VAS-P3, visual analogue scale for knee pain at the resting position; WOMAC, Western Ontario and McMaster index with higher scores representing worse pain, stiffness, and impaired physical function; FAC, femoral articular cartilage; SF-36, the MOS 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey with a higher score indicating better health.