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Related Experiment Videos

Spa therapy for gonarthrosis: a prospective study

I Wigler1, O Elkayam, D Paran

  • 1Department of Rheumatology, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Tel Aviv University Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Israel.

Rheumatology International
|January 1, 1995
PubMed
Summary

Spa therapy benefits patients with gonarthrosis (knee osteoarthritis). Mineral water baths combined with mud packs significantly improved night pain and knee severity index, offering superior results compared to other regimes.

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Area of Science:

  • Rheumatology
  • Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation

Background:

  • Gonarthrosis, or knee osteoarthritis, is a prevalent degenerative joint disease causing pain and disability.
  • Spa therapy is a non-pharmacological approach explored for managing osteoarthritis symptoms.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate the efficacy of different spa therapy regimens in patients diagnosed with gonarthrosis.
  • To compare the effects of mineral water baths and mud packs versus control treatments on clinical parameters.

Main Methods:

  • A randomized controlled trial involving 33 patients with gonarthrosis.
  • Three treatment groups received 2-week spa interventions: mineral water baths with hot mud packs, mineral water baths with rinsed mud packs, or tap water baths with mineral-free mud packs.
  • Blinded assessment of clinical parameters, including the Index of Severity of the Knee (ISK) and visual analogue scale (VAS) for pain, over a 20-week follow-up.

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Main Results:

  • Group I (mineral water baths and hot mud packs) showed significant improvements in ISK and night pain scores.
  • Analgesic consumption decreased significantly in groups I and III (tap water baths and mineral-free mud packs).
  • Global patient and physician assessments indicated improvement in all groups, persisting long-term only in Group I.

Conclusions:

  • Spa therapy, particularly mineral water baths combined with hot native mineral mud packs, demonstrates superior efficacy in improving specific clinical parameters for gonarthrosis patients.
  • All tested spa therapy regimes provided some benefit, including reduced pain and analgesic use, but the combination of mineral water and mud packs yielded the most significant and sustained improvements.