title: Thai massage, and Thai herbal compress versus oral ibuprofen in symptomatic treatment of osteoarthritis of the knee: a randomized controlled trial.
abstract: The aim of this study was to verify the clinical responses to Thai massage (TM) and Thai herbal compression (THC) for treating osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee in comparison to oral ibuprofen. This study was a randomized, evaluator-blind, controlled trial. Sixty patients with OA of the knee were randomly assigned to receive either a one-hour session of TM or THC (three times weekly) or oral ibuprofen (three times daily). The duration of treatment was three weeks. The clinical assessments included visual analog scale assessing pain and stiffness, Lequesne's functional index, time for climbing up ten steps, and physician's and patient's overall opinions on improvement. In a within-group comparison, each treatment modality caused a significant improvement of all variables determined for outcome assessments. In an among group comparison, all modalities provided nearly comparable clinical efficacy after a three-week symptomatic treatment of OA of the knee, in which a trend toward greatest improvement was likely to be found in THC group. In conclusion, TM and THC generally provided comparable clinical efficacy to oral ibuprofen after three weeks of treatment and could be considered as complementary and alternative treatments for OA of the knee.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand ; Center of Thai Traditional and Complementary Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand.
authors.forename: Natthakarn
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-1407-1358
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Chiranthanut
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand.
authors.forename: Nutthiya
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-3739-4723
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hanprasertpong
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand ; Center of Thai Traditional and Complementary Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand.
authors.forename: Supanimit
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-1329-379X
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Teekachunhatean
mesh_terms: D019050:Acupressure / Q000379:methods*; D000368:Aged; D058128:Compression Bandages; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007052:Ibuprofen / Q000008:administration & dosage; D007717:Knee / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008405:Massage / Q000379:methods*; D008875:Middle Aged; D020370:Osteoarthritis, Knee / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal; D007052:Ibuprofen