Comparison between oral colchicine and placebo for the treatment of osteoarthritis in Iraqi patients”

Abstract

Background: Treating knee osteoarthritis (OA) has always provided a challenge this is because there are impartial a few effective treatments available that will standstill the advancement of the disease, and also because standing therapies generally address care of the symptom rather than stopping progression of the ailment.
Objectives: To judge the effects of colchicine and a placebo in Iraqi individuals suffering from knee OA
Methods: In a three-month double-blind, parallel-group study, 80 patients (69 females and 11 males) with knee OA were indiscriminately assigned to obtain either 1 mg of colchicine or 1 mg of starch as a placebo. The study's instruments included WOMAC, VAS, investigator global assessment using a Likert scale, and patient global assessment to measure pain indices.
Results: Individuals who established colchicine adage a statistically substantial decrease in their knee indices (WOMAC scale: 19.6, p-value: 0.035) and VAS score (29.3) (p-value: 0.015). During the first month, the patient's global rating was (3), with a p-value of less than 0.001, whereas the investigator's global assessment, using the Likert scale, was none (8), mild (13), moderate (13), severe (4), and extremely severe (1). With the exception of the patient global evaluation in Month 2, which remained statistically substantial (p-value = 0.018) when compared to baseline readings, no statistically significant changes were seen in Months 2 or 3.
Conclusion: “Patients with OA in their knees who acquired colchicine showed a remarkably higher grade of symptom relief than those in the control group who received a placebo”.