Assessing the Efficacy of Non-Surgical Treatments for Osteoarthritis in Orthopedic Care: A Comparative Study of Physical Therapy, Medication, and Lifestyle Modifications
1Dr Mohib Ali, 2Dr Abdul Rasheed Napar, 3Kamran safder, 4Ali Hamza, 5Ali Raza, 6Syed Danish Mehmood
1PIMS Islamabad
2Associate Professor, orthopedic surgery, Khairpur medical college khairpur Mirs Sindh.
3PIMS Islamabad
4PIMS Islamabad
5UHS Lahore
6Consultant Orthopaedic dept, Islamabad medical complex, Nescom.
ABSTRACT:
Background: Osteoarthritis manifests as a common degenerative joint condition which strongly affects life quality within aging communities. The first treatment approach for managing osteoarthritis includes interventions that provide relief to symptoms while enhancing joint function.
Aim: The research evaluated how well physical therapy methods and pharmacological treatment and lifestyle changes function together to treat osteoarthritis in orthopedic practices.
Methods: The study took place during a period of one year at Ayub Medical Hospital Abbottabad beginning from February 2024 until January 2025. Intervention studies were conducted on three distinctive groups containing 100 patients suffering from osteoarthritis who received physical therapy along with medication and lifestyle modification. Patient clinical results for this research included pain scores together with ROM measurements and WOMAC scores to measure functional improvement when assessing before and after intervention outcomes.
Results: Modern Science established that different percentages of symptom relief occurred using these three nonsurgical treatment approaches. Patients who received physical therapy therapy achieved the greatest reduction of pain levels (p<0.01) as well as improved joint movement and function. Treatments through medication provided swift pain relief yet produced temporary effects in symptom relief. The combination of weight management with exercise practices yielded persistent symptom improvement especially in patients with obesity. When patients underwent both physical therapy interventions together with lifestyle modification programs they showed the best functional improvements as an entire group.
Conclusion: Doctors found non-surgical treatment methods to effectively control osteoarthritis symptom expressions. Physical therapy emerged as the optimal treatment approach since it proved highly effective through its combination with lifestyle changes. The research outcome demonstrates that multimodal non-surgical approaches should be a standard practice in orthopedic care to improve osteoarthritis patient outcomes.
Keywords: Osteoarthritis, Non-Surgical Treatment, Physical Therapy, Medication, Lifestyle Modification, Orthopedic Care, Pain Management, Functional Outcomes.