Electrical stimulation for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis

Electrical stimulation may have a clinically beneficial effect on grip strength and fatigue resistance for rheumatoid arthritis patients with muscle atrophy of the hand.

A Cochrane review included 1 study with a total of 15 subjects. This RCT compared the effects of two electrostimulation (ES) protocols on hand function in general and on the performance of the first dorsal interosseous muscle in particular, in patients with RA and secondary disuse atrophy of the first dorsal interosseous of the dominant hand. The results showed that ES had significant benefit when compared to a control no treatment group in terms of muscle strength and fatigue resistance of the first dorsal interosseous. Most favourable results were obtained by using a patterned stimulation derived from a fatigued motor unit of the first dorsal interosseous in a normal hand rather than a fixed 10 Hz stimulation frequency. Side effects of the ES application were not reported.

Comment: The quality of evidence is downgraded by very sparse data.

Ədəbiyyat

1. Brosseau LU, Pelland LU, Casimiro LY, Robinson VI, Tugwell PE, Wells GE. Electrical stimulation for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2002;(2):CD003687.