Ice Packs May Help Ease Pain of Gouty Arthritis

March 2, 2002

Fri Mar 1, 5:30 PM ET

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - People suffering from gout can ease their

joint pain with ice packs, according to the results of a small study.

There has been little research on the use of cold to treat gout, so Dr.

Naomi Schlesinger of New Jersey Medical School-UMDNJ in Newark and

colleagues decided to investigate whether ice therapy might be helpful

for the condition.

The researchers evaluated ice therapy in a study of 19 patients with

acute gouty arthritis, which is the stage of gout when the first

symptoms appear. All of the patients were given the drugs prednisone and

colchicine, while 10 also received cold therapy with ice packs applied

to the target joint for 30 minutes four times a day. The patients were

followed for one week.

Patients treated with ice therapy experienced a significant reduction in

pain compared with patients who did not, according to the report in the

February issue of The Journal of Rheumatology. In addition, swelling and

fluid buildup appeared to be lower in ice therapy-treated patients, but

this finding was not statistically significant.

Clinically, ice therapy-treated patients appeared to have less severe

attacks than the patients who did not receive cold therapy, the

researchers note. While the results were impressive, the authors point

out that the small sample size limited their ability to determine if ice

therapy offered benefits besides easing pain.

Further studies are needed to verify the current results and to

determine if such therapy is useful when administered with medications

other than prednisone and similar drugs, Schlesinger's team concludes.

SOURCE: Journal of Rheumatology 2002;29:331-334.

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