The study examined pain reduction for 36 patients using the visual analog scale (VAS) and the Western Ontario McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis (WOMAC) pain scale. Researchers evaluated whether pain reduction levels were influenced by demographics and clinical characteristics, such as age, gender, body mass index, history of prior surgery and history of fibromyalgia.
Before treatment, patients had a mean baseline VAS of 8.58 and a mean baseline WOMAC of 66.6. After treatment, all study participants experienced a statistically significant reduction in pain. The mean VAS of 8.58 decreased to 5.02, while the mean WOMAC score decreased from 66.6 to 41. The greatest increase in functionality and decrease in pain was recorded for patients 50 and older compared to younger participants.
“Roughly one in four U.S. adults have knee pain,” said John B. Smirniotopoulos, M.D., an interventional radiologist at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital. “This treatment can offer many of those people a chance to enjoy everyday activities and regain a higher quality of life by decreasing the pain that they experience on a daily basis.”
The researchers are currently conducting long-term studies into this treatment that dive deeper into what other factors could predict how well the treatment will work. The same treatment is also conducted with shoulder, hips and sacroiliac joints, where the spine connects to the pelvis.
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