A Comparison of Kneipp Hydrotherapy With Conventional Physiotherapy in the Treatment of Osteoarthritis of the Hip or Knee: Protocol of a Prospective Randomised Controlled Clinical Trial
A Comparison of Kneipp Hydrotherapy With Conventional Physiotherapy in the Treatment of Osteoarthritis of the Hip or Knee: Protocol of a Prospective Randomised Controlled Clinical Trial
The study design consists of a prospective randomised controlled three-armed clinical trial,
 which will be carried out at a specialist clinic for integrative medicine, to investigate the
 clinical effects of hydrotherapy on osteoarthritis of the knee or hip joint, in comparison
 with conventional physiotherapy.
The main aim of this three-armed clinical study will be to determine the effects of
 hydrotherapy with alternate cold and warm affusions of the thigh in the concomitant treatment
 of osteoarthritis of the hip or knee. The main outcome measures are pain reduction,
 improvement in the quality of life, and increased movement in the affected joint.

 Research questions

 1. Does Kneipp hydrotherapy show a measurable effect in the sense of altered clinical
 findings in the affected knee or hip joint?

 2. How effectively does hydrotherapy influence the clinical parameters of pain, range of
 movement, and function of the affected joint?

 3. How effectively does hydrotherapy affect the secondary outcome measures of quality of
 life, pain experienced, mood, and blood pressure?

 4. Do hydrotherapeutic applications simply provide short-term therapeutic success or are
 there long-term changes in the clinical findings?

 5. Are the clinical effects of hydrotherapy comparable with those of conventional
 physiotherapy of the affected joint?

 6. Are the clinical effects of hydrotherapy used as monotherapy comparable with a
 combination of hydrotherapy and physiotherapy of the affected joint?

 7. Do unwanted effects or side effects occur with hydrotherapy?

 This study was designed as a prospective randomised controlled clinical trial with three
 arms, which is to be carried out at a German clinic specialised in integrative medicine, to
 investigate the clinical effects of hydrotherapy on osteoarthritis of the knee or hip, as
 compared with conventional physiotherapy.

 To achieve maximum scientific accuracy with respect to randomisation, random distribution,
 avoidance of selection bias, etc., the independent Department of General Medicine and Primary
 Care of the University of Leipzig Medical School will function as an external evaluation and
 testing centre.

 The design and concept of this study, as well as its ethical validity, were reviewed and
 approved by the Ethics Committee of the Bavarian State Chamber of Physicians [Ethikkommission
 der Bayerischen Landesärztekammer], (Study Number 08032, dated 04.05.2008).

 One hundred and eighty patients diagnosed with osteoarthritis of hip or knee will be randomly
 assigned to one of three intervention groups: hydrotherapy, physiotherapy, and both
 physiotherapy and hydrotherapy of the affected joint. In the first group, patients will
 receive Kneipp hydrotherapy daily, with water applied in the form of alternate cold and warm
 thigh affusions (alternating cold and warm water stimulation is particularly relevant to the
 knee and hip regions).

 Patients in the second group will receive physiotherapy of the hip or knee joint three times
 a week. Patients in the physiotherapy-hydrotherapy combination group will receive both
 joint-specific physiotherapy three times a week and alternate cold and warm thigh affusions
 every day.
Inclusion Criteria:

 -  Age > 18 years

 -  Symptomatic osteoarthritis of hip or knee (following the revised criteria of the
 American College of Rheumatology)

 -  Willingness to comply with follow-up assessments and treatment

 -  Ability to understand, read and speak German

 Exclusion Criteria:

 -  Endoprothetic replacement of hip or knee joint

 -  Inflammatory arthropathy of the hip or the knee

 -  Acute, hot, red and swollen knee or hip joint (unknown focus)

 -  Inflammatory system diseases which could interfere with the evaluation of the therapy
 procedure

 -  CNS diseases, especially epilepsy

 -  Anamnesis of deep vein thrombosis in the past 12 months

 -  Severe lung disease such as e.g. COPD stages GOLD III - GOLD IV

 -  Heart failure NYHA III - NYHA IV

 -  Myocardial ischemia with or without intervention within the last 3 months before
 inpatient admission

 -  Cancer in advanced stage

 -  Large skin wounds or inflammatory and ulcerated dermatosis of the legs

 -  Severe febrile infectious diseases

 -  Non treated hypertension

 -  Participation in another clinical study within the past four weeks

 -  Pregnancy