As per a report of Clinical Scientific Institutes Maugeri investigators, the CRET with long-lasting advantages and low cost serves as a useful therapeutic alternative for the conservative management of knee osteoarthritis (KOA) to decrease functional limitation, stiffness and pain. CRET is an endogenous diathermy therapy used to lessen pain and increase the quality of life in many inflammatory and orthopaedic degenerative problems but not in knee osteoarthritis (KOA).

Therefore, a two-week program of CRET was conducted to evaluate its efficacy to lessen the stiffness, functional limitations and pain among KOA patients than sham treatment. Patients categorised either into the control or study group. The control group went through the sham control without administration of energy and study group went through six intermittent CRET applications. Primary and secondary outcomes of the analysis were the Western Ontario and McMaster University Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) and the visual analogue scale (VAS) for pain along with Medical Research Council Scale, respectively.

All patients were assessed before treatment (T0), at the completion of therapy (T1), and one (T2) and three months following the treatment (T3). As per the findings, patients exhibited significant improvement in physical function, strength and reduction in pain. Among the study group, a decline in VAS and WOMAC scores was noted at T1, T2, and T3 than T0. On the other hand, the control group exhibited no change in VAS and WOMAC scores at any time points. These observations demonstrate the CRET as an effective approach than the sham treatment.