Aplicación de agentes electrofísicos en la patología de la mano en el ámbito laboral

Abstract

In the clinical care field, it is necessary to have quality information that can be transferred and applied in a simple and effective way to routine clinical practice. Work related hand pathology is very relevant. Its importance, it´s not only in its frequency, which is estimated to be around a third of total occupational injuries, but also in that it entails a high economic and human cost. In physiotherapy, it is increasingly important that decisions regarding patient treatments are based on studies with high scientific evidence, which is why the purpose of this thesis is to delve into the knowledge of electrophysical agents that used in the pathology of the hand, selecting two of the most frequent pathologies in physiotherapy care in the workplace. To this end, three systematic reviews and meta-analyses were conducted; the first related to the improvement of pain, strength and function through the use of electrophysical agents in rhizarthrosis. The second related to the response in terms of pain, severity of symptoms, function, strength and neurophysiological parameters after the application of therapeutic ultrasound in patients diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome. And third research, that studied the changes in terms of pain, severity of symptoms, function, strength and change in neurophysiological parameters after the application of therapeutic ultrasound versus phonophoresis, as well as the difference in the changes produced in the neurophysiological parameters and function in the application of phonophoresis with NSAIDs, or the application of phonophoresis with corticosteroids. In conclusion, it was obtained that electrophysical agents are effective in terms of improving pain, function and strength in patients diagnosed with rhizarthrosis. Therapeutic ultrasound showed significant changes in the improvement of motor distal latency on patients diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome. Phonophoresis was shown to be more effective than ultrasound therapy in terms of improving neurophysiological parameters on patients with carpal tunnel syndrome. No significant differences were found between patients treated with phonophoresis with NSAIDs and phonophoresis with corticosteroids. After carrying out these three meta-analyses, it is necessary to highlight the need to carry out more studies that can expand and provide greater scientific support for the use of electrophysical agents in hand pathology, as well as to evaluate the cost-benefit ratio of these treatments.