Femoral Nerve Mobilization for Patients With Knee Osteoarthritis (RCT)

December 28, 2025 updated by: Mohammad Moustafa Aldosoukki Hegazy, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University

Effects of Femoral Nerve Mobilization on Pain Intensity, Function, Quality of Life and Central Sensitization in Patients With Knee Osteoarthritis

Background: Knee osteoarthritis (KO) is considered as a cause of disability among the elderly, causing pain, reduced quality of life, and decreased functionality. There is a limited knowledge about using femoral nerve mobilization in treating patients with arthritic changes.

Objectives: This study will be designed to determine the efficacy of adding of femoral nerve mobilization on pain intensity, function, quality of life and central sensitization in patients with knee osteoarthritis Methods: Thirty patients (aged ≥50 years with KO Kellgren-Lawrence grades I-II) will be included in this study: Patients will randomly be assigned into two groups: group A will receive traditional physical therapy while group B will receive femoral nerve mobilization in addition to traditional physical therapy. Three sessions will be performed for four weeks by 3 session /week. Patients will be evaluated for pain intensity using the numerical rating scale (NRS), knee function by WOMAC scale, quality of life by 12-item Short Form Survey questionnaire (SF-12) and central sensitization by the Arabic version of central sensitization inventory (CSI).

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

50

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Locations

  • Saudi Arabia
      • Al Kharj, Saudi Arabia, 16242
        • Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • patients aged 50 years or older, diagnosed with KO according to theAmerican College of Rheumatology's criteria with knee pain, and grade I or II on the Kellgren-Lawrence radiographic scale

Exclusion Criteria:

  • individuals suffering from chronic conditions considered to be perpetuating factors (e.g., fibromyalgia)
  • those with conditions causing lower extremity pain
  • individuals who had taken analgesics within 24 h before evaluations
  • those who had undergone corticosteroid or local anesthetic infiltration in the year prior to the study or during the follow-up period
  • those using substances that could interfere with treatment
  • those with a previous diagnosis of neuropathy (lumbosacral plexus) or myopathy
  • those with contraindications to mobilization or exercise, and those with cognitive deficits (dementia, Alzheimer's).

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Control group
Traditional physical therapy
Other: traditional physical therapy
stretching exercises for hamstring, calf muscles and iliotibial band in addition to isotonic exercise for hip extensors and abductors and isometric quadriceps exercise
Experimental: Neural mobilization group
traditional physical therapy plus femoral nerve mobilization
Other: traditional physical therapy
stretching exercises for hamstring, calf muscles and iliotibial band in addition to isotonic exercise for hip extensors and abductors and isometric quadriceps exercise
Other: Femoral nerve mobilization
A physiotherapist guided the patients in performing active mobilization of the femoral nerve. The prescribed method for active neural mobilization involved assuming a prone position supported by the forearms with a slight extension of the spine, flexion of the knee, and extension of the cervical spine. This was followed by performing the opposite movement

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
pain intensity
Time Frame: after 4 weeks
The pain was assessed by the numerical rating scale (NRS) where zero indicating no pain and 10 indicating maximal pain
after 4 weeks
central sensitization
Time Frame: after 4 weeks
The CSI is a validated questionnaire designed to identify symptoms associated with central sensitization. It has two components: Scale A assesses 25 common symptoms in individuals with central sensitization, resulting in a score ranging from 0 to 100. This score was interpreted as follows: subclinical (0-29), mild (30-39), moderate (40-49), severe (50-59), and extreme (60-100). Scale B, which is not scored, collects information on previous diagnoses of specific diseases
after 4 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Estimated)

December 20, 2025

Primary Completion (Estimated)

February 10, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

February 25, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

December 15, 2025

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

December 28, 2025

First Posted (Actual)

January 9, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

January 9, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

December 28, 2025

Last Verified

December 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • RHPT/025/015

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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