Effect of single end-range and not end-range Maitland mobilization on pressure pain threshold and functional measures in knee osteoarthritis: randomised, controlled clinical trial.
Miklós Pozsgai, Kyra Udvarácz, Iván A Péter and 2 others
PMID 36094367WHAT IT FOUND
A single end-range knee mobilization raised pain thresholds at the knee and wrist for up to four days and cut Timed Up and Go time immediately.
Not end-range mobilization and sham did not match these effects. The benefit was short-lived, lasting only days after one session.
Key findings
01End-range mobilization significantly increased local pressure pain threshold immediately and on days 2, 4, and 6, outperforming sham on day 2.
02End-range mobilization increased distant pressure pain threshold at the wrist through day 4, while neither not end-range mobilization nor sham showed any significant increase.
03Timed Up and Go time decreased immediately after end-range mobilization, but this improvement was not significantly better than the gains seen in the sham and not end-range groups, which also improved over time.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
The assessor was not blinded to the treatment group, which could bias subjective measures like pain threshold and passive resistance. Patients' daily activities were not controlled, so unusual movements or activity levels between visits could have influenced results. The Timed Up and Go test was repeated multiple times, likely causing a learning effect that explains why all groups improved, masking any specific treatment benefit for function. The study only measured outcomes for six days, so long-term effects of a single session are unknown.
Declared interests
No specific funding sources or conflicts of interest are declared in the provided text.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that end-range mobilization improves functional mobility better than sham. While pain thresholds improved significantly more with end-range treatment, Timed Up and Go times improved in all groups, including the sham group, likely due to a learning effect from repeated testing.