Evaluation of selected therapeutic methods in patients with primary Raynaud's syndrome

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Evaluation of selected therapeutic methods in patients with primary Raynaud's syndrome

Journal Title: New Medicine - Year 2013, Vol 17, Issue 1

Abstract

&lt;b&gt;Introduction.&lt;/b&gt; The only treatment method for individuals with primary Raynaud&amp;rdquo;s widely used in Poland, is drug therapy.&lt;br&gt;&lt;b&gt;Aim.&lt;/b&gt; The aim of the study was to demonstrate experimentally that other non-pharmacological treatment for primary Raynaud&amp;rdquo;s sufferers are possible, and to determine their efficacy.&lt;br&gt;&lt;b&gt;Material and methods.&lt;/b&gt; The paper describes and discusses the results of comprehensive assessment of 60 patients of the Department of Dermatology. The patients were randomly assigned to a control group and two experimental groups (relaxation therapy and physical therapy, 20 patients each). As it would be unethical to deny treatment to those patients assigned to the control group, that group received drug therapy alone, while the other two groups received drug therapy plus additional treatments (infrared sauna or relaxation training). All patients were assessed on three occasions: at baseline (before the experiment) (I), and after twelve (II) and twenty-four (III) weeks of treatment. The paper presents the results of assessment of changes in capillary circulation (by capillaroscopy), pain, sweating (VAS scale), frequency of Raynaud&amp;rdquo;s attacks (questionnaire), and level of anxiety (STAI questionnaire).&lt;br&gt;&lt;b&gt;Results. &lt;/b&gt;The experimental groups (physical therapy and relaxation therapy) demonstrated significantly better results on capillaroscopic examination after 24 weeks of treatment compared to the control group (p = 0.015 and p = 0.030, respectively). After 24 weeks of treatment, the physical therapy group reported a lower level of pain than the control group at p = 0.032.&lt;br&gt;&lt;b&gt;Conclusions.&lt;/b&gt; The results of the study show that the health-related problems of patients with primary Raynaud&amp;rdquo;s require an interdisciplinary approach.

Authors and Affiliations

Aneta Dąbek, Janusz Domaniecki, Piotr Czyżewski, Małgorzata Bujar-Misztal

Keywords

The correlation between dimensions of personality and results of therapy in patients with the primary Raynaud’s phenomenon

The Raynaud’s phenomenon is a paroxysmal vasoconstriction of peripheral arterioles in hands, more rarely feet, ears, tongue or mamma. The origin and pathomechanism of the disease is not thoroughly explored, however exces...

EP ID EP55110
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