Acute Effects of Interferential Current on Edema, Pain and Muscle Strength in Patients With Distal Radius Fracture

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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Interferential current is a form of electrotherapy that is obtained by placing two different plates that produce medium frequency waveform current, resulting in a low frequency interferential waveform in deeper tissues. It was shown interferential current electrotherapy is beneficial for reduction of traumatic edema in tissues and pain control. Patients with conservatively managed distal radius fractures were recruited after casts are shed, and were treated with one session(30 minutes) of different protocols of interferential current electrotherapy. Before and after therapy, they were evaluated with volumetry, hand grip strength and visual analogue scale for pain.

Official Title
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Acute Effects of Interferential Current on Edema, Pain and Muscle Strength in Patients With Distal Radius Fracture

Conditions
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Radius Fractures, Edema, Pain

Intervention / Treatment
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* Device: Electrotherapy, interferential current
* Other: Control


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: Conservatively managed distal radius fractures Exclusion Criteria: Secondary conditions associated with edema(renal failure, congestive heart failure etc) Complex regional pain syndrome Compartment syndrome Contraindications for electrotherapy(cardiac pacemaker, thrombosis, pregnancy etc) Mental state unfit for electrotherapy Having treated with electrotherapy before

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 18 Years
Maximum Age: 70 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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No

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Treatment
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Triple


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: 10 Hz<br>Interferential current, entry frequency 4000 Hz and 4010 Hz, beat frequency 10 Hz, amplitude was individualized and increased until patients felt a comfortable tickling sensation. | Device: Electrotherapy, interferential current<br>* Interferential current, entry frequencies and beat frequencies were set differently in 2 groups, amplitude was individualized and increased until patients felt a comfortable tickling sensation.<br>|
| Experimental: 100 Hz<br>Interferential current, entry frequency 4000 Hz and 4100 Hz, beat frequency 100 Hz, amplitude was individualized and increased until patients felt a comfortable tickling sensation. | Device: Electrotherapy, interferential current<br>* Interferential current, entry frequencies and beat frequencies were set differently in 2 groups, amplitude was individualized and increased until patients felt a comfortable tickling sensation.<br>|
| Sham Comparator: Placebo-Sham Control<br>No current except for first 5 seconds, device open but does not appy electrotherapy. | Other: Control<br>* No current except for first 5 seconds, device open but does not appy electrotherapy.<br>|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Volumetry | Patients were asked to dip their hands slowly into a special bucket full of water with volume markings until their middle finger touched to the bottom of the bucket. The spilled amount of water were measured as milliliters. | 30 minutes | 
| Visual Analogue Scale | Patients were asked to express their discomfort level from pain in a scale ranging from 1 to 10(with the help of a 10 cm line), and point they showed were measured as millimeters. | 30 minutes | 
| Hand Grip Strength | Patients were asked to use a hydraulic hand dynamometer for hand grip strength in a position of 10 to 30 degrees of wrist extension, and results were registered as kilograms. | 30 minutes | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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Radius fracture, Interferential current, edema, pain