EFFECTIVENESS OF ILIOTIBIAL BAND STRETCHING VERSUS MYOFASCIAL RELEASE TECHNIQUE ON KNEE PAIN, PHYSICAL FUNCTION, AND QUALITY OF MOVEMENT IN PATIENTS WITH LATERAL PATELLAR TRACKING DISORDER

Abstract

Background: Lateral Patellar Tracking Disorder (LPTD) is one of the common biomechanical problems of the knee joint. However, there is still a scarcity of evidence regarding the effects of physiotherapy therefore this study aimed to compare the effectiveness of Iliotibial Band (ITB) Stretching versus ITB Myofascial Release Technique (MFRT) on knee pain, physical function and quality of movement in patients with LPTD.

Methodology: A two-arm, parallel group design, Randomized Controlled Trial was conducted on patients suffering from LPTD. Patients aged between 25-55 years and radiograph findings with lateral tracking of patella were enrolled. A sample size of 40 participants who met eligibility criteria were assigned into Group A= ITB Stretching (n=20) and Group B=ITB MFRT (n=20) using simple random sampling. Treatment protocol was followed as one session per day for 2 weeks. Data was collected using valid tools i.e., Numeric Pain Rating Scale was used to assess Knee pain, Western Ontario and McMaster Osteoarthritis Index was used to measure physical function and Lateral Step-Down Test for Quality of Movement.  Data was analyzed using IBM-SPSS version 23.0. Paired sample t-test was run for within-group analysis and independent sample t-test was used for between-groups analysis. P-value <0.05 were considered as significant at 95% CI.

Results: The pre-post analysis of both the groups showed statistically significant reduction in knee pain, improvement in physical function, and quality of movement at p-value <0.01. The mean post-post score of pain, physical function and quality of movement of Group A was 2.2, 25.3 and 1.2 respectively and whereas for Group B was 2.4, 25.3 and 24.1 respectively, showed no statistically significant difference between studied groups at p-value p>0.05.

Conclusion: ITB Stretching and MFRT both are effective treatment strategies in reducing knee pain, improving physical function, and quality of movement in patients with LPTD.