title: [Efficacy of mud-bath therapy with Mineral Water from the Sillene spring at Italy's Chianciano Spa for osteoarthritis of the knee: a clinical statistical study].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Many previous researches showed clinical benefits, effects on inflammatory mediators and pain, immune system, hormones and on the diencephalic-pituitary-adrenal axis. Our study evalues the efficacy of mud-bath therapy with mineral water from the Sillene Spring at Italy's Chianciano Spa in patients with osteoarthritis of the knee.
  
  
  METHODS
  In study we compared: physical examination of the knee joint, visual analogue scale (VAS) assessment of pain, and Lequesne Algo-functional Index. Tests were performed in 61 patients divided into 2 groups. The group A underwent three full cycles of mud-bath therapy over 1 year's time, the group B did not. An observational longitudinal study was also conducted on the patients of group A, before and after completion of the treatment protocol. Statistical analyses were based on use of Pearson's chi² test, Student's t tests for paired and unpaired data.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The percentage of patients with no symptoms or mild symptoms was higher in group A than in group B (differences were highly significant); the mean value of VAS and the overall Lequesne indexes mean score reported in group A was significantly lower than that reported in group B. The same we observed comparing the clinical conditions of group A patients before and after mud-bath therapy. No adverse effects were observed in any of the patients in group A.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The mud-bath therapy at Chianciano Spa significantly improves the clinical conditions of patients with knee osteoarthritis and significantly reduces the frequency and severity of symptoms and the disability they cause.
authors.affiliation: UOC Medicina Interna E, Terapia Medica e Medicina Termale, Scuola di Specializzazione in Medicina Termale, Sapienza Università di Roma, Roma, Italia. antonio.fraioli@uniroma1.it
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fraioli
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Serio
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Mennuni
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ceccarelli
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Petraccia
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Campanella
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fontana
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nocchi
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Tanzi
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Grassi
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Valesini
mesh_terms: D001452:Balneology; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D008900:Mineral Waters; D009094:Mud Therapy; D020370:Osteoarthritis, Knee / Q000628:therapy*; D010147:Pain Measurement; D012720:Severity of Illness Index
chemical_list: D008900:Mineral Waters