The terms "passive motion," "massage" and "Swedish movement" are, to say the least, very confusing in their application, they are used in such an indiscriminate way, in books of surgery, essays, monographs, clinical lectures and by the general profession. In many instances these treatments are advised regardless of the anatomic and pathologic conditions of the joints involved.
Passive motion is a different treatment from massage or Swedish movements, but all three treatments are many times suggested in such a perfunctory manner that one might regard them as the same, and the results are disastrous, especially in inflamed joints and in many forms of infected joints, as well as injuries, fractures and dislocations at or near the joints, and seldom if ever is any good accomplished in establishing normal motion. Passive motion should be abandoned in joint diseases. Personally I do not recall a case in which it has been beneficial