Paraffin wax bath therapy versus therapeutic ultrasound in management of post burn contractures of small joints of hand

Hafiz Muddassir Riaz, Saeed Ashraf Cheema, Hafiz Muddassir Riaz, Saeed Ashraf Cheema

Abstract

Burn injury may result in psychological and physical disability. Post-burn contractures, a poor outcome of the wound healing process, may limit the movement at the joints and impair the quality of life of the survivors. To compare outcomes of paraffin wax bath therapy and therapeutic ultrasound in post-burn contractures of small joints of the hand; eighty patients with post-burn contractures were enrolled in this study. Patients were divided into two groups; group I (n=40) was treated with ultrasound therapy and group II (n=40) with paraffin wax bath therapy, while stretching exercises & protocols for massage of the burn scar contracture were the same for both groups. The study participants were assessed for passive range of motion (P-ROM) for the extension at inter-phalangeal (IP) joints of the involved finger at the first contact session and the end of the 8th week of the treatment. The mean age of the patients was 25.62 years in Group-I and 24.67 years in group II. Group-I had 29 (72.5%) males and 11 (27.5%) females and group-II had 37 (92.5%) males and 37.5%) females. After 8 weeks of treatment, Group-I displayed improvement in range of motion with a mean increase of 4.97 ± SD 0.94 degrees while Group-II showed a mean increase of 9.37 ± SD 4.41 degrees with P value of <0.005. Paraffin wax therapy with stretching exercises and massage were more effective as compared to ultrasound therapy with stretching exercises and massage for the management of post-burn contractures of small joints of the hand.

Keywords: Paraffin Wax therapy; burn; physiotherapy; post burn contractures; ultrasound therapy.