The Effect of Eppi-Ka-Jutsu-To on Osteoarthritis of the Knee / 日本東洋医学雑誌

ABSTRACT

In order to study the effects of Eppi-ka-jutsu-to on osteoarthritis of the knee, the author administered it to thirty subjects (nine males; twenty-one females) with osteoarthritis for eight weeks. Synovial fluid was obtained from all subjects before and after formula administration. All subjects had chronic swelling, tenderness and slight heat in the knee joints before therapy. Viewed from the change in score evaluation for knee osteoarthritis set by the Japanese orthopedic association, there was a significant improvement in pain on walking and joint effusion. In synovial fluid analysis, both the white blood cell count (especially the polymorphonuclear leukocyte count) and catalase activity were decreased significantly. This finding suggests that the sedation of inflammatory synovitis with Eppi-ka-jutsu-to might relieve the symptoms of knee osteoarthritis.