Therapeutic effect of spa therapy and short wave therapy in knee osteoarthritis: a randomized, single blind, controlled trial
Key Findings
- 74 knee OA outpatients randomized single-blind to three arms: daily local mud packs plus arsenical-ferruginous mineral baths at Levico Terme, Italy, for 3 weeks (n=30); short-wave therapy (n=24); or routine care only (n=20)
- Assessed at baseline, end of the 3-week treatment period, and 12-week follow-up
- Both spa therapy and short-wave therapy produced symptom relief at end of treatment
- Only spa therapy (mud pack plus mineral bath) remained effective at the 12-week follow-up
- Authors attribute the persistent effect at least partly to the mineral water, not the mud pack alone — this is a combined mud-pack-plus-mineral-bath intervention, not an isolated peloid-vs-heat comparison
Randomized, single-blind, controlled trial comparing spa therapy (daily local mud packs combined with arsenical-ferruginous mineral baths at Levico Terme, Italy) against short-wave diathermy and against routine care alone, in 74 outpatients with knee osteoarthritis. Both active treatments reduced symptoms by the end of the 3-week course, but only the spa therapy arm sustained improvement at 12-week follow-up. The authors attribute the durable effect at least in part to the mineral content of the bathing water, so the trial demonstrates the value of a combined mud-pack-and-mineral-bath protocol rather than isolating peloid/mud from heat as separate variables.
Sourcing note
This entry replaces karagulle-2007, a citation withdrawn on 2026-09-16 as unverifiable: its DOI (10.1007/s00296-006-0253-9) resolved nowhere on doi.org or Crossref, no matching Karagülle knee-OA peloid RCT exists on PubMed, and the claimed journal location (Rheumatology International 2007;27(6)) is actually occupied by this Cantarini et al. paper. Metadata and findings above verified directly against PubMed/NCBI (PMID 17106661) via NCBI E-utilities on 2026-09-16.
Where this source is used on this site
Each page below cites this paper as evidence for a specific claim. The note shows what the page draws from it.
RCT (n=74) — spa therapy (mud pack + arsenical-ferruginous mineral bath) vs. short-wave therapy vs. routine care for knee OA; only spa therapy remained effective at 12-week follow-up
RCT (n=74) — heat-based spa therapy (mud pack + mineral bath) and short-wave therapy both gave initial symptom relief in knee OA, supporting sustained heat delivery as a contributing mechanism (though the authors credit the durable 12-week effect partly to mineral content, not heat alone)