Balneological Outpatient Treatment for Patients with Knee Osteoarthritis; an Effective Non-Drug Therapy Option in Daily Routine?

rct Grade B 2017 n=50

Authors: Özkuk, K., Gürdal, H., Karagülle, M., Barut, Y., Eröksüz, R., Karagülle, M.Z.

Journal: International Journal of Biometeorology 61 (4) : 719-728

Key Findings

Randomized controlled trial: 50 knee osteoarthritis patients received 10 sessions of hydrotherapy plus mud pack therapy, delivered either consecutively over 2 weeks or intermittently over 5 weeks
Both scheduling regimens produced statistically significant clinical improvement and better quality-of-life measures, with comparable efficacy between the two
Some improvements diminished by the 3-month follow-up in both groups

A randomized controlled trial testing whether a course of balneological treatment (hydrotherapy plus mud pack, 10 sessions total) can be delivered flexibly — consecutively over two weeks, or spread across five — without losing effect. Both schedules produced significant clinical and quality-of-life improvement in knee osteoarthritis, with comparable results between groups, though some gains faded by three months. The mud type is not specified as peat, so this is read as general balneotherapy corroboration for the joint-inflammation evidence base rather than peat-specific evidence. Abstract-only sourcing; no full text was located.

rctbalneotherapymud-packknee-osteoarthritisjoint-inflammationnot-peat-specific