A Comparative Study To Determine The Effects Of Maitland Mobilization Vs.Mulligan Mobilization With Movement (Mwm) With Retro-Walking In Osteoarthritis

Abstract

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a chronic progressive degenerative disorder of multifactorial etiology causing greater disability and clinical symptoms among adults. Physiotherapy is the mainstay of non-pharmacological treatment in osteoarthritis. It has shown that manual therapy combined with supervised exercise program is effective in reducing pain, disability, improving range of motion and strength in patients with knee osteoarthritis. Our aim is to determine the comparative effects of Maitland mobilization vs. Mulligan mobilization with movement (MWM) with retro-walking in osteoarthritis. This is a comparative study where 30 subjects, both Male and Female with a primary diagnosis of osteoarthritis knee by the physician was recruited into two groups or intervention sequence with 15 subjects in each group. Group-A received Maitland mobilization with retro-walking and Group-B received Mulligan mobilization with retro-walking. Home exercise program was incorporated for both groups. All subjects received intervention thrice weekly for 4 weeks. Outcome measures were Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Arthritis Index (WOMAC) and 6 -minute walk test. Pre-Test and Post-Test was carried out for both groups and analyzed using paired and independent t tests in an SPSS software. It is concluded that both group-A (Maitland mobilization with retro-walking) and group-B (Mulligan mobilization with retro-walking) showed improvement post-treatment. However, the intervention given in group-B (Mulligan mobilization with retro-walking) showed significant improvement in VAS in terms of pain and WOMAC in terms of pain, stiffness and dysfunction compared to groupA (Maitland mobilization with retro-walking) whereas 6-minute walk test was found to be equally effective in both group-A and group-B. It is recommended for long term treatment and follow-up and retro-walking should be included in the rehabilitation of OA knee since the level of pain has been reduced.