Trial reportEuropean journal of physical and rehabilitation medicine2026
Effects of serial thermal brine hand baths on hand osteoarthritis: a randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled trial.
Trial report in European journal of physical and rehabilitation medicine, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundBalneotherapy is used since ancient times, effects on hand osteoarthritis however are not well elucidated.
aimTo evaluate therapeutic effects of serial thermal brine hand baths (tbhb) in patients experiencing painful hand osteoarthritis (HOA).
designRandomized, double-blind, sham-controlled monocentric clinical trial.
settingOutpatient clinic, monocentric. POPULATION: Patients with painful bilateral painful HOA meeting the 1990 American College of Rheumatology classification criteria with a baseline pain level >30 mm on the Visual Analog Scale (VAS) and radiographic evidence of hand osteoarthritis in posteroanterior X-ray projection, classified as Kellgren and Lawrence grade ≥2.
methodsProbands were randomized to the intervention group (IG) receiving tbhb or the control group (CG) receiving tap water hand baths (sham). Both hand baths (tbhb and sham) were performed 6 times in 3 weeks with 15 min/bath at a water temperature of 25 °C. OUTCOMES: The primary outcome was the change in pain intensity (VAS [mm]) following the intervention. Secondary outcomes were changes in the Australian Canadian Osteoarthritis Hand Index (AUSCAN), grip strength, functional parameters of microcirculation (by O2C method), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and safety. Outcomes were primarily analysed after the last intervention followed by secondary analysis of the follow-up visits 4 and 12 weeks after intervention and during intervention.
resultsA total of 38 patients successfully completed the trial. Pain intensity significantly decreased due to tbhb (P<0.001), with sustained benefits observed up to 3 months post-intervention. The AUSCAN pain subscore was significantly reduced (P<0.001). There was no significant change in other AUSCAN subscores, nor in grip strength or functional parameters of microcirculation including VEGF due to tbhb. No adverse events due to tbhb were observed.
conclusionsThermal brine hand baths represent a simple, effective, and well-tolerated method to achieve pain relief in HOA with results lasting up to 12 weeks after intervention. CLINICAL REHABILITATION IMPACT: Thermal brine hand baths can be used to reduce pain in HOA.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.