Universität zu Köln

Loeser, Johannes, Layer, Brigitte, Plata, Christopher, Perrar, Klaus-Maria, Hucho, Tim and Kulbida, Rebecca (2020). Hirudotherapy attenuates arthritic pain in patients with various chronic pain syndromes: A retrospective analysis. J. Integr. Med.-JIM, 18 (5). S. 425 - 434. AMSTERDAM: ELSEVIER. ISSN 2095-4964

Full text not available from this repository.

Abstract

Objective: Osteoarthritis is a degenerative disease that affects synovial joints. Micro-injuries of articular structures initiate inflammatory processes, leading to persistent pain. Due to various risk factors, osteoarthritis is often diagnosed in multimorbid patients. This makes pain management one of the key challenges, with a consistent need for new therapeutic strategies. Hence, complementary and integrative methods such as hirudotherapy have become increasingly important, even though their mechanisms of action are not entirely understood. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the longitudinal effect of a single leech application on osteoarthritic joints in a heterogenic cohort of 24 cases with various chronic pain syndromes. We assessed articular pain intensity ratings and movability of the treated joint after one-time leeching for up to 12 months. We further investigated the effect of hirudotherapy on the systemic pain status and multimodal treatment strategies of the patients. Results: There was a significant reduction in pain intensity ratings at the joint of leech application for up to 12 months after treatment. The improvements in pain intensities were independent of the form of osteoarthritis treated. In addition, we saw a considerable enhancement in local movability of the treated joint. Hirudotherapy did not seem to influence the systemic pain status as well as the previously established individualized multimodal treatment model of the patients. Conclusion: Leeching as an adjuvant therapy has a great potential especially in terms of safety and long-term outcome. (C) 2020 Shanghai Changhai Hospital. Published by ELSEVIER B.V. All rights reserved.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID ORCID Put Code Loeser, Johannes UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Layer, Brigitte UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Plata, Christopher UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Perrar, Klaus-Maria UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Hucho, Tim UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Kulbida, Rebecca UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED
URN:	urn:nbn:de:hbz:38-320855
DOI:	10.1016/j.joim.2020.07.003
Journal or Publication Title:	J. Integr. Med.-JIM
Volume:	18
Number:	5
Page Range:	S. 425 - 434
Date:	2020
Publisher:	ELSEVIER
Place of Publication:	AMSTERDAM
ISSN:	2095-4964
Language:	English
Faculty:	Unspecified
Divisions:	Unspecified
Subjects:	no entry
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Keywords Language LEECH THERAPY; MEDICINAL LEECH; KNEE OSTEOARTHRITIS; MANAGEMENT; EFFICACY; SALIVA Multiple languages Integrative & Complementary Medicine Multiple languages
URI:	http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/id/eprint/32085