Leeches - a treatment for knee osteoarthritis?
Leeches can help reduce the pain of osteoarthritis of the knee, a small German study has found. But the ARC says that more positive evidence from bigger studies is needed before the treatment could become widely accepted.
Researchers from a clinic in Germany carried out a small trial of 16 patients with an average age of 68, who had had persistent knee pain for more than six months.
Leech therapy was tried on ten patients, while six others were given conventional treatment for pain.
Four leeches were applied to the osteoarthritic knee, and left in place for more than one hour. Pain measures were recorded three days before the treatment started, and 28 days after it had finished.
Patients who had had leech therapy reported a month-long reduction in knee pain; while those who had had conventional therapy had no change in the level of pain.
The researchers believe that the leech saliva, which contains various anaesthetic and analgesic compounds, could be a factor. But they accept that more work need to be done. Leech therapy for knee OA is widespread in Germany, and is also used in ayurvedic medicine for the treatment of acute knee pain.
A spokeswoman for the ARC said: "Even if bigger studies than this one show that applying leeches can help reduce knee pain in osteoarthritis, I can't see many patients being particularly enthusiastic about it because of the 'yuck' factor."
