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Effectiveness of ultrasound treatment applied with exercise therapy on patients with ankylosing spondylitis: a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial

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Abstract

The aim of our study was to evaluate effectiveness of ultrasound treatment applied with exercise therapy in patients with ankylosing spondylitis. Fifty-two patients, who were diagnosed according to modified New York criteria, were aged 25–60, and have spine pain, were randomly assigned to two groups. Ultrasound (US) and exercise therapy were applied to treatment group (27); placebo US treatment and exercise therapy were applied to control group (25). Patients were evaluated before treatment, at the end of treatment, and 4 weeks after the treatment. Daily and night pain, morning stiffness, patient global assessment (PGA), doctor global assessment (DGA), Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index (BASDAI), Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Functional Index (BASFI), Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Metrology Index (BASMI), Ankylosing Spondylitis Quality of Life (ASQoL) questionnaire, Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Score (ASDAS) erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), and ASDAS C-reactive protein (CRP) were used as clinical parameters. In US group, all parameters showed significant improvements at 2 and 6 weeks, in comparison with the baseline. In placebo US group, significant improvement was obtained for all parameters (except tragus-to-wall distance and modified Schober test at 2 weeks and lumbar side flexion and modified Schober test at 6 weeks). Comparison of the groups showed significantly superior results of US group for parameters of BASMI (p < 0.05), tragus–wall distance (p < 0.05), PGA (p < 0.01), and DGA (p < 0.05) at 2 weeks as well as for the parameters of daily pain (p < 0.01), PGA (p < 0.05), DGA (p < 0.01), BASDAI (p < 0.05), ASDAS-CRP (p < 0.05), ASDAS-ESR (p < 0.01), lumbar side flexion (p < 0.01), the modified Schober test (p < 0.01), and ASQoL (p < 0.05) at 6 weeks. Our study showed that ultrasound treatment increases the effect of exercise in patients with ankylosing spondylitis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sultanbeyli State Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey

    Duygu Şilte Karamanlioğlu

  2. Fatih Sultan Mehmet Education and Training Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey

    Ilknur Aktas, Feyza Unlu Ozkan, Meryem Kaysin & Nuray Girgin

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  1. Duygu Şilte Karamanlioğlu
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  2. Ilknur Aktas
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  4. Meryem Kaysin
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Correspondence to Duygu Şilte Karamanlioğlu.

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Duygu Silte, Ilknur Aktas, Feyza Unlu Ozkan, Meryem Kaysin, and Nuray Girgin declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Şilte Karamanlioğlu, D., Aktas, I., Ozkan, F.U. et al. Effectiveness of ultrasound treatment applied with exercise therapy on patients with ankylosing spondylitis: a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial. Rheumatol Int 36, 653–661 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00296-016-3441-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00296-016-3441-3

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