Objectives: Diabetic foot is a serious complication of diabetes which aggravates the patient’s condition whilst
also having significant socioeconomic impact. The aim of the present study is to examine the effectiveness of pulsed radio
frequency in the treatment of chronic lower limb ulcers. Materials and Methods: Forty patients with persistent diabetic
foot ulcers for more than three months participated in the study. Their ages ranged from 40 to 50 years. Patients were
chosen from Deraya University Physical Therapy Center between July 2019 and February 2020. Patients were randomly
assigned to one of two groups: Group (A): The Pulsed Radio Frequency Group received PRFE with a maximal power 400
Watts, a pulse width of 400 microseconds, a frequency of 144 pulses per second, and an average power of 23 watts for 30
minutes, three times a week for six weeks, as well as medical treatment. Only medical treatment was provided to Group
(B) (Medical Treatment Group). Ki-67 percent was used to measure cell proliferation before and after treatment. Results:
the Wilcoxon sum ranking test revealed that there was a significant increase in Ki-67% after 6 weeks of treatment
application in group A when compared with corresponding pre-treatment value where P-value = 0.00008. While there was
no significant difference between pretreatment and posttreatment data in group B regarding the Ki-67% where P-value =
0.496. Mann-Whitney test revealed that there was no statistically significant difference between groups regarding the
pretreatment data where P-value = 0.562. While there was a statistically significant difference between groups regarding
posttreatment data where P-value less than 0.00001. Conclusion: Pulsed radio frequency energy accelerates wound
healing and increases cell proliferation, making it an important adjuvant therapy for chronic lower limb ulcers. |
