Effectiveness of Tecar Therapy in Patients With Chronic Achilles Tendinopathy

Summary

Achilles tendinopathy is characterized by pain, decreased performance and swelling in and around the tendon. Up to 29% of patients with Achilles tendinopathy may require surgical intervention. It can be complicated by partial tears or complete rupture, placing a long-term burden on the healthcare system and making treatment more difficult.

The most common location of Achilles tendinopathy is in the insertional area of the calcaneus, 1.5 to 2 cm cranial to the bone. The most common location of pathologic inflammation was at the fascial intersection of the medial gastrocnemius and soleus when fused with the proximal Achilles tendon (66% of patients and the distal part of the Achilles tendon near the calcaneus. The four cornerstones of tendon histopathology are: cellular activation and increased cell number, increased ground substance, collagen disorganization and neovascularization. In addition, blood supply is one of the most influential factors in tendon tissue repair. A recent clinical trial compared the outcome after low frequency microwave hyperthermia with traditional ultrasound. The hyperthermia group recorded significantly better results after treatment and one month later. The use of deep heating modalities, due to their beneficial effects of increased circulation and cellular metabolism resulting in increased waste and nutrient exchange in a specific area, has long been accepted as part of the treatment of overuse tendinopathies . The application of heat has been reported to improve blood flow and oxygen saturation in the Achilles tendon.Physical therapies based on electrical or electromagnetic stimulation have been used in rehabilitation, in some cases combining electrical therapy with radiofrequency. Specifically, resistive capacitive electrical transfer therapy (CRet) has been used in physical rehabilitation and sports medicine to treat muscle, bone, ligament and tendon injuries. CRet is a non-invasive electrothermal therapy classified as deep thermotherapy, which is based on the application of electrical currents within the radiofrequency range of 300 kHz - 1.2 MHz. he effects attributed to this technique include increased deep and superficial blood circulation, vasodilatation, increased temperature, elimination of excess fluid and increased cell proliferation. Some of these reactions, such as increased blood perfusion, are known to be related to the increase in temperature, but others, such as increased cell proliferation, appear to be primarily related to the passage of current. There are currently numerous treatment proposals for this pathology, however, the only one that has shown significant improvements are eccentric exercise protocols. The only drawback of this type of exercise is that the results are obtained in the long term.

There is currently no study that has compared the effectiveness of adding a tecartherapy protocol to the eccentric exercise protocol in chronic Achilles tendinopathy in athletes in the short and medium term in both functional and structural variables.

Conditions

• Achilles Tendinopathy

Interventions

OTHER

Tecartherapy

Patients will receive therapeutic exercise sessions for 7 weeks and 7 tecartherapy sessions.

OTHER

Sham

Patients will receive therapeutic exercise sessions for 7 weeks and 7 sessions of simulated tecartherapy.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Universitat Internacional de Catalunya

  lead OTHER

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

DOUBLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

80 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2022-12-01

Primary Completion

2024-07-01

Completion

2024-09-01