A meta-analysis was conducted to examine the effect of mud therapy on pain relief in patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA).
A detailed search of PubMed®/MEDLINE® was undertaken to identify randomized controlled trials and prospective comparative studies published before 9 March 2013 that compared mud therapy with control group treatments in patients with knee OA.
A quantitative meta-analysis of seven studies (410 patients) was performed. There was a significant difference between the groups in the visual analogue scale pain score (standardized mean difference [SMD] -0.73) and Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index pain score (SMD -0.30), with differences in favour of mud therapy.
Mud therapy is a favourable option for pain relief in patients with knee OA. Additional high-quality randomized controlled trials need to be conducted to explore this issue further and to confirm this conclusion.