The effect of Swedish massage on pain, flexion range of motion, the electrical activity of the quadriceps muscles, and their co-contraction with the hamstring muscles during walking in women with medial compartment knee osteoarthritis: a randomized c

Introduction: Knee osteoarthritis (KOA) is associated with decreased muscle strength, muscle activity, and impaired knee range of motion (ROM). This study aimed to investigate the effect of Swedish massage on pain, the flexion of knee joint ROM, the electrical activity of the quadriceps muscles, and their co-contraction with the hamstring muscles during walking in women with medial compartment KOA. Materials and Methods: 30 patients with KOA participated in this randomized clinical trial study. Patients were randomly assigned to two intervention and control groups. The intervention group received the massage intervention for four weeks. The patient's pain, the electrical activity of muscles around the knee, and the knee joint ROM were measured in pre-and post-tests. For data analysis, SPSS software was used. Results: The level of pain (p=0.008) and the flexion range of motion (p=0.033) of the patients showed a significant improvement in the post-test. The electrical activity of the vastus medialis and vastus lateralis muscles increased after the test, but the electrical activity of the semitendinosus and biceps femoris muscles did not show a significant change. Also, the co-contraction ratio of the vastus lateralis-biceps femoris muscles also showed a significant improvement (p=0.020), but the ratio between the vastus medialis-semitendinosus muscles didn’t show a significant decrease (p=0.091). Conclusion: Considering the improvement of the symptoms and consequences of KOA following the application of massage intervention in this study, it seems that using this intervention along with other medical and therapeutic interventions is beneficial for patients with KOA.