Effects of diclofenac sodium gel phonophoresis in sports activities induced grade-l ankle sprain

Abstract

Purpose: the purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of diclofenac sodium gel phonophoresis in grade -l ankle sprain. Materials & Methods: 54 patients were randomly included in this study and allocated equally into two groups. Group-1 was managed with therapeutic ultrasound (digital ultrasound machine, a product of HMS marketed in India with frequency of 1 MHz and 3MHz) with diclofenac sodium gel and group-2 was managed with therapeutic ultrasound with aquasonic gel. Therapeutic ultrasound with diclofenac sodium gel, marketed under the name of Voltaren, was administered at a frequency of 1MHz, an intensity of 0.8 W/cm2 with continuous mode (1:1) for five times a week for 2 weeks. The patients were examined by using Numeric Pain Rating Scale (NPRS) and Foot and Ankle Disability Index (FADI). They were assessed on the baseline, after 1st week, and after 2nd week of treatment. Results: one way ANOVA test was used to determine the significant difference at the 0.05 level of significance. There was reduction in NPRS and FADI p-value 0.000 after 2nd week of treatment in group-1 and group-2. But on the basis of mean difference score of NPRS and FADI, group-1 was better effective in terms of reduction of pain and improvement of function periodical manner (Table 3). Conclusion: significant dose-dependently relief was observed in NPRS and FADI for pain in disability for each group treated with diclofenac sodium gel compared with aquasonic gel using ultrasound. Acoustic streaming increased these benefits significantly when used after topical application of diclofenac sodium gel, and the dose-dependent effects of diclofenac sodium gel using therapeutic ultrasound.