UHF therapy

General principles of physiotherapeutic rehabilitation

The rehabilitation program for patients with musculoskeletal injuries and diseases is developed on a multidisciplinary basis. A physical therapist, a medical rehabilitation specialist, and an exercise therapy (kinesiotherapy) physician are necessarily involved in drafting the plan.

All rehabilitation measures, including UHF-EF therapy, start from the very first day of injury and continue until the last day of treatment for wound defects and their sequelae. The baseline criterion determining the choice of a specific physical modality at each stage is the clinical characteristic of the wound (whether it is aseptic or infected).

Application in joint diseases

In degenerative joint pathologies, particularly gonarthrosis, hardware therapy is selected taking into account the patient's individual characteristics. The efficacy of UHF therapy is confirmed by experts: the method is assigned a recommendation grade C.

In addition to the ultra-high-frequency electric field, complex joint treatment may include:

• Inductothermy (treatment with high-frequency electromagnetic fields).
• SMT therapy (sinusoidal modulated currents).
• Ultrasound and ultraphonophoresis (strictly using local medications recommended for osteoarthritis).
• Percutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS).
• Magnetotherapy (both general and local).
• Drug iontophoresis/phonophoresis (magnetophoresis, electrophoresis with pulsed or diadynamic currents).
• Local cryotherapy (especially indicated for obvious signs of inflammation in the knee joints, as well as small joints of the hands and feet).

Exercise therapy is also prescribed from the first days: breathing exercises, lightweight movements for the ankle and knee joints, and general conditioning exercises for unaffected limbs. An important component is the patient and family education program on psychological prevention.

UHF in the treatment of aseptic wounds

If the wound surface is not infected, the main goals of physiotherapy are a significant reduction in tissue edema, improvement of local microcirculation, normalization of blood hemorheology, and maximum acceleration of healing.

To achieve these effects, UHF-EF therapy, magnetotherapy, laser therapy, and ELF therapy (millimeter-wave electromagnetic radiation) are used.

A crucial feature of the technique is that the high-frequency electric field can penetrate materials unhindered. Therefore, UHF therapy, along with magnetotherapy and ELF therapy, is administered directly through the dressing. In contrast, laser therapy requires open access to the wound and is performed strictly during dressing changes.

Tactics for infected wounds and necrosis

In the presence of infection, hardware treatment is initiated only after thorough surgical debridement. At this stage, UHF therapy is combined with short-wave ultraviolet (SUVF) radiation and electrophoresis (using systemic antibacterial drugs and procaine for microcirculatory disorders). The objectives of these procedures are combating the infectious agent, wound surface dehydration, pain relief, and pronounced anti-inflammatory action.

When the process progresses to the stage of purulent tissue necrosis, rehabilitation is strictly divided into stages:

1. First stage: UHF-EF, SUVF, ultrasound skin treatment, and electrophoresis (with enzyme preparations and systemic antibiotics) are applied.
2. Subsequent stages: Infrared radiation, microwave therapy (super-high-frequency field), and inductothermy are prescribed to accelerate the sloughing of dead tissue, stimulate regeneration, and loosen dense fibrous connective tissue.

Skin darsonvalization may additionally be used. Its purpose is to provide a bacteriostatic effect achieved through the generation of ozone molecules on the treated surface directly during the procedure.

Class and exam questions

What else to study on this topic

• Inductothermy and SMT therapy: features of application in gonarthrosis
• Management tactics for aseptic and infected wounds using physical methods
• Pharmacological agents for electrophoresis and ultraphonophoresis (antibiotics, enzymes, procaine)
• Exercise therapy (kinesiotherapy) programs from day one for joint diseases
• Physiotherapy at the stage of purulent necrosis sloughing (microwave therapy, infrared radiation, darsonvalization)

Prepared by WhiteCoat Pro faculty in accordance with the medical school curriculum. For educational purposes only.