ORTHOPAEDIC AND TRAUMATOLOGICAL SECTION   

Medicina dello Sport 2001 June;54(2):129-36

Copyright © 2001 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: Italian

Multispecialistic evaluation on the use of electroionotherapy in different pathological pictures

Francavilla G. ¹, Agostini G. ², Rubino G. ², Palmeri F. ¹, Francavilla V. C. ¹

¹ Cattedra di Medicina dello Sport, Università degli Studi, Palermo; ² Cattedra di Dermatologia, Università degli Studi, Pisa

Electroionotherapy is a phys­io­ther­a­peu­tic treat­ment ­which is not over­com­ing, has not ­side ­effects and its aim is to ­give har­mo­ny to the organ­ic func­tion ­through the bio­stim­u­la­tion ­with acti­va­tion of the perme­abil­ity of the cel­lu­lar mem­brane and mit­o­chon­dri­al ­growth. The ­effect of ­electric cur­rent ­depends on ­many fac­tors: ­time of expo­sure of the ­body, pow­er, volt­age, ten­sion of the cur­rent, den­sity of the ­field, ­expanse of the sur­face, in ­touch, great­ness and dis­tance of elec­trodes. The bio­log­ic ­effects of the cur­rent in low and medi­um fre­quence are: ­increase in the pro­duc­tions of fibro­blast and the reac­ti­va­tion of micro­cir­cu­la­tion, reduc­tion of phlog­o­sis, ede­ma and ­pain. Besides, the medi­um fre­quence cur­rent ­presents ther­mic ­effects. A ­first ­study has ­been con­duct­ed on 381 ­patients who suf­fer ­from trau­mat­ic ­pain; ­among ­them 330 ­patients suf­fer ­from ­intense pathol­o­gies and 51 ­patients suf­fer ­from chron­ic pathol­o­gies ­which ­have ­already ­been treat­ed. The 330 ­patients ­were divid­ed into 4 ­groups; the ­first was ­also treat­ed ­with phar­mac­o­log­i­cal ther­a­py, the sec­ond ­group ­with phys­i­cal ther­a­py, the ­third ­with ­only phar­mac­o­log­i­cal ther­a­py and the four­th with ­on­ly Bio-Ejt. The following pathologies have been treated: sim­ple cut­an­eous ­lesion, mus­cu­lar trau­ma, tenos­y­nov­ities and per­i­ten­din­itis, ente­rop­a­thies, oste­o­chon­dritis, ­sprains. The appli­ca­tions ­have ­been ­from 5 to 15 ­times and ­each appli­ca­tion ­has ­gone on for a period var­i­able ­from 15 to 30 min­utes ­with dif­fer­ent inten­sity ­­depending on rel­e­vant symp­tom­a­tol­o­gy. Decrease of ­pain, of ede­ma, improve­ment of phys­i­cal func­tion are incon­test­able clin­i­cal ­results. Besides, the appli­ca­tions ­have ­made ­patients ­recover in short­est ­time. Several ­patients, who suf­fer ­from arthro­sis, ­have ­also ­been treat­ed ­with excel­lent ­results. In the ­trial ­with the coop­er­a­tion of the Reumath­o­log­i­cal Depart­ment of Pisa University and ­with the coop­er­a­tion of the ­Burn Depart­ment ­and An­gio­lo­gy Depart­ment, we ­have ­enrolled 519 ­patients suf­fering ­from ­ulcer, post­sur­gi­cal and vas­cu­lar decub­it­us ­ulcer; the recov­ery has ­been 90% in vas­cu­lar ­patients, 89% in decub­it­us ­patients and 76% in per­fect cic­a­triza­tions. Good ­results strength­en the hypoth­e­sis, ­­asserting ­that the elec­tro­mag­net­ic ­field has revas­cu­lar and reep­i­the­lial capac­ity; the ­optic ­probe vid­eo­ca­pil­la­ros­co­py ­helps us to com­firm the hypoth­e­sis. The Bio-Ejt has ­been ­used by 15 ­patients suffering from surgical and chronic pain: 4 cer­vic­o­dy­nia, 4 back­ache, 7 ­post-trau­mat­ic ­pain, two cas­es ­deserve our atten­tion: 1) ­about ­tem­po­ral ceph­a­lal­gia ; 2) outlet thoracic syn­drome. Finally, the conclusion is drawn ­that Bio-Ejt ther­a­py, ­already ­used in sev­er­al pathol­o­gies, has ­such a ther­a­peu­tic capac­ity as to suggest its ­use in oth­er new pathol­o­gies.