TREATMENT AND REHABILITATION OF
RHEUMATIC DISEASES IN BALKAN SPAS;
THE EVIDENCE
Müfit Zeki Karagülle
TURKSPA

• A vivid custom; still popular and “widely” used
• have been considered mainstream
• at least in part, reimbursed by health insurance systems

Therapy and Rehabilitation of Rheumatism in Balkan Spas
• frequently indicated for the patients with chronic disorders,
• in particular of the musculoskeletal system
– one of the oldest forms of therapy for patients with arthritis
– to soothe the pain,
– improve joint motion
– and as a consequence to relieve people' suffering
– and make them feel well

Medicine at Balkan Spas/Health Resorts
• Comprehensive medical practice for a diversity of health conditions including rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases;
– Prevention
– Treatment
– Rehabilitation
• Based on balneo- hydro- peloido- and climatotherapy and “healing environment”
• Institutions/facilities
• thermal cure centers
• thermal hotels
• special spa clinics, hospitals, sanatoriums

• the use of water
– Balneotherapy
• thermal / mineral waters
– Hydrotherapy
• Plain water
• the use of medicinal muds (peliods)
– Mud therapy
• the use of climate and environment
– Climatoherapy
– Thalassotherapy
– Forest therapy
• the use of other factors
• the use of other therapeutics
– Exercise therapy
– Massage therapy
– Diet (nutrition) therapy)
– Health education
– Authentic therapies
• Hamam
• Sauna
• Herbs
• Nutrition

*
**
Research that is descriptive, anecdotal or authoritative;
Research without intervention, with results that may be used in future studies;
***
Research not involving a control group or randomization but with an evaluation;
****
Research involving a systematic study with control groups but without randomisation;
*****
Research involving a systematic study with a randomized control group.

Metaanalyzes

Ann Rheum Dis 2003;62;1145-1155 adapted from the classification of the United States Agency for Health Care Policy and Research.
Category Evidence from:
1A Meta-analysis of RCTs
1B At least one Randomised Control Trial - RCT
2A At least one controlled study without randomisation
2B
3
4
At least one quasi-experimental study
Descriptive studies, such as comparative, correlation or case-control studies
Expert committee reports or opinions and/or clinical experience of respected authors

In the year 2004 there was 1B and 2A level of evidence for efficacy and effectiveness of spa therapy on the main rheumatic diseases
• Osteoarthritis - 2A
• Rheumatoid arthritis - 1B
• Fibromyalgia - 1B
• Ankylosing spondylitis - 1B
• Low back pain - 1B

• Now, a decade later since our article for Turkey was published, we aimed to review and evaluate the current evidence on the treatment and rehabilitation of rheumatic musculoskeletal diseases (RMSD) in Balkan spas
• A comprehensive search of databases to identify the metaanalysiz and randomized controlled trials on the effectiveness of balneotherapy and spa therapy in Balkans for patients with RMSD were published in peer reviewed journals in English during last decade.

• Pamukkale (Ardıç et al)
• Afyon (Evcik et al)
• Bursa (Yurtkuran et al)
• Balçova (Dönmez et al)
• Tuzla-Istanbul (Özkurt et al)

Terme Ilidza, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
University Clinical Center and a nearby spa (rehabilitation hospital)
BANJSKO-REHABILITACIJSKI CENTER BANJA TERME ILIDŽA

Obadasi E, Karagülle MZ, Karagülle Z, Turan M, Karagülle O. Comparison of two spa therapy regimens in patients with knee OA, an exploratory study.
Phys Med Rehab Kuror 2002; 12: 337-41.
Odabası E, Turan M, Erdem H, Pay S, Gülec¸ M, Karagülle MZ. The effect of Mud pack treatment in knee osteoarthritis. Turk J Rheumatol 2009;24:72–76.
Bostan B, Sen U, Günes T et al. Comparison of intra-articular hyaluronic acid injections and mud-pack therapy in the treatment of knee osteoarthritis. Acta
Orthop Traumatol Turc 2010;44:427.
Cutovic M, Jovic S, Konstantinovic L, Lazovic M, Jovanovic T, Vesovic V.
The effects of balneotherapy on knee osteoarthritis. Med Pregl 2006;59
Suppl 1: 47-50.
Jokic A, Sremcevic N, Karagülle Z, Pekmezovic T, Davidovic V. Oxidative stress, hemoglobin content, superoxide dismutase and catalase activity influenced by sulphur baths and mud packs in patients with osteoarthritis.
Vojnosanit Pregl 2010;67:5738.

Karagülle M, Karagülle MZ, Karagülle O, Dönmez A, Turan M. A 10-day course of SPA therapy is beneficial for people with severe knee OA. A 24-week randomized, controlled pilot study. Clin Rheumatol 2007; 12: 2063-71.
Evcik D, Kavuncu V, Yeter A, Yigit Ilktur. The efficacity of balneotherapy and mud pack therapy in patients with knee OA. Joint Bone Spine 2007; 74(1):60-5.
Yurkturan M, Yurkturan M, Alp A, Nasicilar A, Bingol U, Altan L, Sarpdere G.
Balneotherapy and tap water in the treatment of knee OA. Rheumatol int 2006;
27: 19-27.
Alaçatı, Çeşme, Izmir

Pittler MH, Karagülle MZ, Karagülle M, Ernst E. Spa therapy and balneotherapy for treating low back pain: meta-analysis of randomized trials. Rheumatology (Oxford). 2006;45:880-4. significant intergroup differences in favor of balneotherapy compared with control groups
(weighted mean difference 18.8 mm, 95% CI 10.3–27.3, n = 138)
Yurtkuran M, Kahraman Z, Sivrioğlu K, Afşin Y, Doğan M, Balneotherapy in Low Back Pain. Eur J Phys Med Rehabil 1997; 7: 120-123
© The Author 2006. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Society for
Rheumatology. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

• Demirel R, Ucok K, Kavuncu V, Gecici O, Evcik D, Dundar U, Solak O,
Mollaoglu H. Effects of balneotherapy with exercise in patients with low back pain. J Back Musculoskelet Rehabil. 2008;21: 263-72
• Dogan M, Sahin O, Elden H, Hayta E, Kaptanoglu E. Additional therapeutic effect of balneotherapy in low back pain. South Med J. 2011;104:574-8.
• Kesiktaş N, Karakaş S, Gün K, Gün N, Murat S, Uludağ M. Balneotherapy for chronic low back pain: a randomized, controlled study. Rheumatol Int.
2012;32:3193-9.
• Onat SS, Taşoğlu O, Güneri FD, Özişler Z, Safer VB, Özgirgin N. The effectiveness of balneotherapy in chronic low back pain. Clin Rheumatol.
2014 Oct;33(10):1509-15. doi: 10.1007/s10067-014-2545-y. Epub 2014
Mar 6.

Forest plot of the mean differences in visual analogue pain scores with 95% confidence intervals (CI) in the mud therapy group versus control group, and the overall total, in six studies included in a meta-analysis conducted to examine the effect of mud therapy on pain relief in patients with knee osteoarthritis.
Liu H et al. Journal of International Medical Research
2013;41:1418-1425
Copyright © by a Creative Commons Attribution License, unless otherwise noted.

Forest plot of the mean differences in the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities
Osteoarthritis Index pain scores with 95% confidence intervals (CI) in the mud therapy group versus control group, and the overall total, in four studies included in a meta-analysis conducted to examine the effect of mud therapy on pain relief in patients with knee osteoarthritis.
Liu H et al. Journal of International Medical Research
2013;41:1418-1425
Copyright © by a Creative Commons Attribution License, unless otherwise noted.

The available high level evidence suggests that balneotherapy and spa therapy in Balkan Spas is effective in the treatment and rehabilitation of major rheumatic musculoskeletal diseases;
• Osteoarthritis
• Fibromyalgia
• Ankylosing Spondylitis
• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Chronic low back pain

There is encouraging and compelling evidence -level 1A and 1B - for spa and balneotherapy in
Balkan spas for treatment and rehabilitation of rheumatic musculoskeletal diseases

More high-quality, randomized, controlled trials need to be conducted in
Balkans to confirm this conclusion.