OBJECTIVE: To assess the safety of electrotherapy applied in the knee area in patients with known atrial arrhythmias or ischemic heart disease, as it is not known whether this treatment induces or aggravates arrhythmias during or immediately after therapy. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The analytical and transversal study involved 46 patients with degenerative knee osteoarthritis (OA), with or without cardiac diseases, from the Clinical Rehabilitation Hospital inpatient center, Cluj-Napoca, Romania. All patients underwent a 10-day physical therapy program for knee OA (electrotherapy, massage and kinesiotherapy). Heart rate and the total number of ventricular and supraventricular extrasystoles were evaluated before and after treatment, by 24 h Holter ECG monitoring. RESULTS: There was no significant increase in heart rate or in the number of ventricular or supraventricular extrasystoles before or after electrotherapy treatment, regardless of the positive or negative history of arrhythmia or ischemic heart disease (all p > 0.05). Mean values during day 1 were: 35.15 (95% CI [9.60−60.75]) for ventricular ones extrasystoles and 91.7 (95% CI [51.69−131.7]) for supraventricular ones, which during day 2 were 38.09 (95% CI [3.68−72.50]), 110.48 (95% CI [48.59−172.36]), respectively. CONCLUSION: One of the most important things to consider when dealing with an OA patient is that they are most likely older than 65 years, which increases the chance of having a cardiac disease. This raises the need for viable interventions regarding the management of this disease in patients that probably have multiple comorbidities, and where pharmacological and surgical management are not possible, limited or have multiple side effects. Electrotherapy used for treating knee OA did not cause a significant increase in heart rate or number of ventricular and supraventricular extrasystoles in this category of patients.
Keywords: cardiac arrhythmia; contraindications; electrotherapy; ischemic heart disease; knee osteoarthritis.