Abstract
As osteoarthropathy (OA) of the knee occurs in the elderly and it needs a long term treatment, we are concerned of side effects of NSAIDs, steroid arthropathy and suppurative arthritis, caused by their frequent injection into knee joints. We have been using Chinese medicines as the drug therapy for OA of the knee because of its low incidence of side effects. In this study we compared analgesic effect of NSAIDs with that of Chinese medicines for OA of the knee.
Method: Sixty-seven OA patients suffering from knee pain were divided into 3 groups; Group A (n=10): NSAIDs group, Group B (n=29): Chinese medicines group, Group C (n=28): NSAIDs+Chinese medicines group. We prescribed 5 kinds of NSAIDs, mainly propionic acids, and 12 kinds of Chinese medicines in accordance with Zheng (Kampo diagnosis), and evaluated the improvement of the pain by pain scores (mean±SD).
Result: Pain scores in Group A, Group B and Group C were 5.5±2.8, 2.0±2.2 and 3.0±2.5, respectively. Either Group B (p<0.01) or Group C (p<0.05) showed significant improvement compared with Group A. No difference was seen between the groups B and C.
Conclusion: This study indicates the usefulness of Chinese medicines in the treatment of OA patient with knee pain.
