J Rheumatol
-
To quantify the magnitude of change seen with pain, function, and quality of life outcomes 6 months after total hip and knee arthroplasties (THA, TKA) within a community based cohort of a regional health district. ⋯ Large improvements were reported for pain and function after joint arthroplasties, while small to moderate changes were seen in other areas related to quality of life. Patients with hip arthroplasties showed greater improvement in pain and function and were more satisfied with their outcomes than patients with knee arthroplasties. Although pain and function show large improvements, bodily pain and physical function were less than the values reported in the general population.
-
Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Intravenous clodronate in the treatment of reflex sympathetic dystrophy syndrome. A randomized, double blind, placebo controlled study.
To evaluate the efficacy of intravenous (i.v.) clodronate in patients with reflex sympathetic dystrophy syndrome (RSDS) and to assess the urinary excretion of type I collagen crosslinked N-telopeptide (NTx) before and after the treatment. ⋯ A 10 day i.v. clodronate course is better than placebo and effective in the treatment of RSDS. NTx seems to be a predictive factor for clodronate efficacy.
-
Skeletal muscle can be the site of inflammatory diseases that lead to muscle weakness, pain, and increased myogenic serum enzymes. Most of these inflammatory myopathies are idiopathic. In some cases inflammatory myopathies are due to infectious agents. ⋯ After treatment with clindamycin and corticosteroids both cases had only partial improvement, case 1 with a residual muscle weakness and case 2 with residual cardiac insufficiency (requiring digoxin). These cases show that the presence of the parasite in myofibers is not enough to induce an inflammatory myositis with muscle cell necrosis. This suggests that immunological disturbances may contribute to the development of inflammatory myositis due to toxoplasma.
-
Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Randomized double blind trial of an ayurvedic plant derived formulation for treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.
To evaluate RA-1, a standardized plant extract formulation, traditionally considered a safe, effective antiarthritic in the Asian-Indian Ayurvedic medicinal system. ⋯ In a trial with sufficient power, RA-1 revealed efficacy that was not significantly superior to the strong placebo response, except for improvement in joint swelling. Further, the effect on RF and good safety profile led to an open label phase.