[Intra-articular therapy with superoxide dismutase (orgotein) or cortisone in rheumatoid and arthritic inflammatory...

The use of intra-articular corticosteroid therapy during the acute stage of arthritis is widely accepted. The symmetric involvement in both hands of identical finger joints is the ideal basis for a comparative study of the efficiency of such injections. In a randomized trial corticoid was directly compared with Orgotein, the enzyme "Superoxid-Dismutase" which inactivates oxygen-combinations and thereby interrupts inflammatory reactions. In this way accepted treatment of both sides was possible without the use of a placebo which could be considered as doubtful for ethical reasons. The results were evaluated using the following three reproducible parameters: 1. joint diameter before and after treatment 2. strength of pinch-grip 3. range of motion. Thirty-one patients with ninety-eight affected joints were treated and followed up. Thirty patients showed an improvement upon both treatments. Twenty-six of them reported identical pain relief for the corticoid and Orgotein treated joint on both sides after approximately three injections per finger joint. In four cases pain relief in the Orgotein treated joints was less significant than in the corticoid treated ones.