Leeches for the Treatment of Knee Osteoarthritis

RWTH Aachen University

Status and phase: Completed; Phase 2

Conditions: Osteoarthritis; Arthralgia

Treatments: Procedure: Repeated Leeching after 4 weeks; Procedure: Single Leeching; Procedure: Placebo Leeching

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT00435773

EK 102/03

Details and patient eligibility

About

Previous studies have not addressed the question, whether or not a repeated leeching can supply symptomatic relief of osteoarthritic pain for extended periods of time. We present a randomized study to the effectiveness of single and repeated leech therapy in cases with advanced osteoarthritis of the knee using a large patient group compared to a control group, who were both blinded to the actual treatment modality.

Sex: All

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Osteoarthritis of the knee
• Persistent osteoarthritic symptoms for at least 6 months
• Radiographic evidence of late stage osteoarthritis of the knee (stage III-IV)
• History of conservative management including pain medication and physical therapy

Exclusion criteria

• Anticoagulant treatment or history of hemophilia
• History or presence of rheumatic diseases leading to secondary osteoarthritis
• Presence of hematological, hepatic, renal or immunological disease
• Insulin-dependant diabetes mellitus
• Intraarticular injections or systemic application of corticosteroids during the 3 preceding months
• History of surgery of the affected knee during the last 3 months or joint replacement
• History of previous leech therapy
• Lack of informed consent

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind