Medical Hydrology and Balneology: Environmental Aspects

Efficacy and tolerability of mud packs therapy
in osteoarthritis of the hand
Giannitti C (1) , Fortunati N (2) , Seri G (2) , Tenti S (1) , Paglionico A (1) ,
Galeazzi M (1) , Fioravanti A (1)
(1) Department of Clinical Medicine and Immunological Sciences, Rheumatology Unit,
University of Siena, Italy
(2) Spa centre of Fonteverde Natural Spa Resort San Casciano Terme. Siena. Italy
chiara.giannitti@libero.it
Introduction and Objectives
Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common form of joint disease and a major contributor
of disability in older people. Current treatment of OA include pharmacological
and non-pharmacological modalities. Spa therapy has a long history in the
treatment of OA, but few articles have evaluated the effectiveness of this treatment
in patients with primary OA of the hands. The aim of this study is to assess the
duration of the clinical effectiveness of mud-packs application and mineral bath in
patients with primary OA of the hands in a single blind, controlled, randomized
trial.
Our study will follow the patients for a longer period of time (12 months) than
was done in previous studies
Materials and Methods
60 outpatients with OA of the hand according to the ACR criteria were enrolled;
30 patients received a combination of daily local mud packs and mineral bath water
from the spa centre of Fonteverde Natural Spa Resort (San Casciano Terme, Siena,
Italy) for two weeks; 30 patients continued regular, routine ambulatory care. Patients
were assessed at baseline time, after 2 weeks, after 3, 6, 9 and 12 months
following the beginning of the study and were evaluated by Visual analogue Scale
for spontaneous pain, Dreiser Algofunctional index, Health Assessment Questionnaire
, Arthritis Impact Measurement Scale 1 and symptomatic drugs consumption.
Results
We observed a significant improvement of all evaluated parameters at the end of
the cycle of spa therapy, which persisted throughout the whole of the follow-up
period, whereas in the control group no significant differences were noted. This
symptomatic effect was confirmed by the significant reduction of symptomatic drug
consumption. Tolerability of spa therapy seemed to be excellent.
Conclusions
The results from our study confirm that the beneficial effects of spa therapy in
patients with OA of the hand lasts over time, with positive effects on the painful
Balnea
2012, núm. 6, 404-405
404
ISBN: 978-84-669-1887-0
978-84-669-3482-4