Assessment of effect of topical palm date (phoenix dactylifera L.) preparation on clinical manifestation of knee Osteoarthritis versus Diclofenac gel : A randomized clinical trial

Abstract

Abstract Introduction: Osteoarthritis is the most common arthritis. Osteoarthritis is rated as the fifth cause of the year of life last index in high income countries and ninth in low to middle income countries. Due to complications of medical and surgical interventions and the growing demand to herbal medicine, the research on the medicinal plants can be decide as a beneficial strategy. One of the most useful plants in the Traditional Persian Medicine is date palm (Phoenix Dactylifera L.).Date palm (Phoenix Dactylifera L.) is used as medicinal plant in many diseases in Traditional Persian Medicine. One of the most important usages of date palm in Traditional Persian Medicine is the topical use of date fruit for joint problems like, arthralgia, joint stiffness, and arthritis. Aim: Determining the effect of topical palm date (phoenix dactylifera L.) preparation on clinical manifestation of knee Osteoarthritis versus diclofenac gel: A randomized clinical trial Methods: According to the inclusion criteria, ninety four patients with mild to moderate knee osteoarthritis were included in the study. Informed consent was obtained from patients then precise history was obtained from patients and clinical exams were done. Patients allocated to the two equivalent groups of 47 people (intervention and control groups) randomly using the block design method. In the next step the intended drug (date pomade and diclofenac gel) prescribed to patients. Patient consumed the drugs three times a day and one fingertip index for four week. The vas and the womac questionnaires were collected before the starting the medication and week 2 and 4 after intervention by interviewing. Results: The statistical comparison between intervention and control groups showed that the date's pomade significantly reduces the pain compared with control group according to the vas questionnaire (P=0.0000). Also according to the womac questionnaire the statistical analysis showed that the date pomade reduces the pain and stiffness of knee and improves the daily physical activity of patients better than diclofenac gel. But this reduction of pain and stiffness and improvement of the physical activity was significant at the end of week 4 after the intervention (P=0.0000) and was no significant at the end of week 2 after the intervention (P=0.90, P=0.05, P=0.05 for pain, stiffness, and physical activity respectively). Conclusion: This study showed that the consumption of date pomade three times a day can reduce the pain and stiffness of the mild to moderate osteoarthritis patient's knee and improve the daily physical activities of those patients better than diclofenac gel.