2.1. Participants
lower extremity pain, arthritis
SECONDARY, ARTHRITIS
We recruited patients with mild knee OA (Kellgren and Lawrence (K-L) grade 1–2) who were not indicated for surgery. Patients with K-L grade 1 to 2 were selected because they had a variety of treatment options and enough time to apply them. Patients with a K-L grade of 3 to 4 were excluded as they required more aggressive treatment options to improve their symptomatology. Patients with intact cognition (mini-mental state examination score > 20) and those who were ambulatory were included. Patients who had another musculoskeletal condition that could cause lower extremity pain, secondary causes of arthritis, or who had a knee intra-articular injection within the previous 6 months were excluded. Eighteen patients with knee OA were finally recruited for the study. Patients were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 groups: the experimental group (n = 9), which received ESWT, or the control group (n = 9), which received sham ESWT. All participants provided informed consent.