Effect of Peat Intervention on Pain and Gait in Patients with Knee Osteoarthritis: A Prospective, Double-Blind, Randomized, Controlled Study

Abstract

Background/Purpose. Peat is a plant material that is decayed in anaerobic and acidic conditions. Peat is known for its pain relief effect on degenerative and rheumatologic diseases for hundreds of years. This research aims to see effects of peat intervention on knee osteoarthritis patients' pain, biomarkers, and parameters about gait.

Methods. Knee osteoarthritis patients with Visual Analog Scale (VAS) of 3 or more and Kellgren-Lawrence osteoarthritis grades 1 to 3 were included. Patients with history of intraarticular injection treatment were excluded. Forty-one participants were randomly allocated to the peat intervention group (n = 22) or the hot-pack-only control group (n = 19). Peat and hot pack were applied to both knees of each group of patients. Each intervention session lasted 20 minutes, and eight sessions were completed over five days. VAS, serum cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP), and gait parameters were evaluated before and after the whole interventions.

Results. VAS in the peat group decreased from 6.000 to 3.409 after intervention (p<0.001) and also decreased in the control group from 5.737 to 4.421 (p<0.001). VAS score reduction between two periods was greater in the peat group than that in the control group (p<0.001). There was no significant difference in the serum COMP level in either intergroup or intragroup analysis. In gait analysis, the gait velocity of the peat group increased from 0.781 m/s to 0.873 m/s after intervention (p=0.002), while it decreased in the control group. The knee varus/valgus range of motion during gaits was reduced from 11.455 degrees to 8.439 degrees after intervention in the peat group (p=0.006).

Conclusions. This study showed that peat can be considered as a therapeutic option for pain relief of knee osteoarthritis patients. The reduction in knee joint varus/valgus range of motion and the increase in gait velocity after peat intervention were also identified through this research, which is the first to analyze the effects of peat on gait.