Physiotherapy Management of Musculoskeletal Disorders in Diabetes Mellitus- A Narrative Review

Abstract

Patients with diabetes are more prone to get musculoskeletal problems and show higher pain levels, poorer functional outcomes, reduced quality of life and a reduced response to treatment compared to those without diabetes. Physiotherapy is often the first line of treatment for majority of these conditions. Inspite of this, not many studies have seen the effects of physiotherapy interventions specifically in diabetes related musculoskeletal disorders. A literature search of PubMed, Google Scholar, PEDro and Cochrane library was carried out which yielded 1645 articles out of which 12 were included in the final review. Very few studies on physiotherapy management in diabetes related musculoskeletal disorders were retrieved. Good quality studies which specifically study the effects of physiotherapy interventions in diabetes related musculoskeletal disorders are needed so that early treatment can be initiated and quality of life can be improved.

Keywords

• adhesive capsulitis
• carpal tunnel syndrome
• dupuytren's contracture
• flexor tenosynovitis
• limited joint mobility
• reflex sympathetic dystrophy