Whole-body cryotherapy for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis: a monocentric, single-blinded, randomised controlled trial
Klemm P, Hoffmann J, Asendorf T, Aykara I, Frommer K, Dischereit G, Müller-Ladner U, Neumann E, Lange U
Clinical and experimental rheumatology · 14 citations
Review labels
Neutral facts our review recorded about how this study was done. They describe method, never whether we like the result.
How it was studied
- Design
- Randomized controlled trial (indexed by PubMed)
- Studied in
- People
- Main outcome
- Health markers and function
Who paid for it
- Funding
- Funding not disclosed
Publication
- Published
- 2022-11-01 · Clin Exp Rheumatol · vol. 40 · issue 11 · pp. 2133–2140
- Publisher
- National Institutes of Health
- Cited
- 12 citations · more than 78% of similar papers · 1.1× the field average
- References
- 0 works
- Access
- Paywalled
- Research areas
- Exercise and Physiological Responses · Rheumatoid Arthritis Research and Therapies · Therapeutic Uses of Natural Elements
- Keywords
- Medicine, Rheumatoid arthritis, Cryotherapy, Confidence interval, Internal medicine, Randomized controlled trial, Arthritis, Rheumatology, Physical therapy, Gastroenterology, Surgery
- MeSH
- humans, arthritis, rheumatoid, pain, cytokines, cryotherapy
9 authors
From DE
- Philipp KlemmJustus-Liebig-Universität Gießen
- Jutta HoffmannJustus-Liebig-Universität Gießen; Kerckhoff Klinik
- Thomas AsendorfUniversitätsmedizin Göttingen
- Iris AykaraJustus-Liebig-Universität Gießen; Kerckhoff Klinik
- Klaus FrommerJustus-Liebig-Universität Gießen; Kerckhoff Klinik
- Gabriel Dischereit
Abstract
Objectives
To evaluate effects of whole-body cryotherapy (WBC) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
Methods
Patients with active RA undergoing a 16-day multimodal rheumatologic complex treatment were randomly assigned to either WBC (6 applications in 14 days at -130°C for 3 min) or no treatment. The primary outcome was the difference between groups in pain on a numerical rating scale after intervention. Secondary outcomes assessed effects on i) disease activity, ii) functional capacity, iii) cytokine levels, and iv) use of analgesics.
Results
A total of 56 RA patients completed the trial (intervention group [IG]: 31 patients, control group [CG]: 25 patients). The mean change (± standard error) in pain after intervention was -2 in the IG (95% confidence interval [CI] -2.75 to -1.31, p<0.001) and -0.88 (95% CI -1.43 to -0.33, p=0.003) in the CG, with a baseline-adjusted between-group difference of -1.31 ± 0.4 (95% CI -2.1 to -0.53; p=0.002). Pain at the 12-week follow-up visit remained significantly below baseline values in the IG. Disease activity and functional capacity showed statistically and clinically meaningful improvement after intervention but were not significant at the 12-week follow up. TNF and IL-6 levels changed significantly in the IG. Eighteen of 31 (58%) patients of the IG reduced or discontinued analgesics at the 12-week follow-up. No WBC-related side effects were reported.
Conclusions
WBC in RA reduces pain and disease activity significantly and in a clinically meaningful manner, resulting in a reduction of analgesics. These effects are potentially based on a change in cytokine levels.
Abstract via Europe PMC. Copyright remains with the authors or publisher.
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