A randomized comparative clinical study on osteoarthritis knee with Unani formulations (oral and local) and Hijama Bila Shart

Abstract

Osteoarthritis is the most common form of chronic arthritis affecting 250 million people worldwide. Obesity has been recognized as one of the strong risk factor of knee osteoarthritis. In Unani system of medicine joint diseases are treated with several regimens, therefore, it is hypothesized to evaluate comparatively the efficacies of two different treatments viz Unani formulation(s) and Hijama Bila Shart in osteoarthritis knee among obese. Methods: This study was conducted as a comparative, open, randomized, active control clinical trial on 35 patients, 20 patients in test group (Habb with Zimad) and 15 patients in active control group (Hijama bila shart). Both groups were treated continuously for 15 days. The pre and post treatment effects were assessed with subjective and objective parameters.Results: Subjective parameters Knee joint pain and Difficulty in movement were found highly significant in either groups (p0.05)in both groups, WOMAC Index scores (combined, pain and physical function) were found significant (p0.05). The results were analyzed statistically by using Paired t test, Friedman test with posttest, one-way ANOVA with posttest and Kruskal Wallis test with Dunn’s multiple compare test.Discussion: This comparative trial revealed that interventions of both groups are effective in ameliorating the symptoms of osteoarthritis knee. Test drugs were found comparatively little more effective than control. Moreover, interventions of both groups were found to be effective without any adverse effect.