The value of roentgen irradiation in the treatment of painful degenerative and inflammatory musculoskeletal conditions. A double-blind study.

A double-blind trial was carried out to study the effect of roentgen radiation treatment in 104 patients presenting 127 painful disorders of the joints and muscles. 64 disorders received genuine treatment and 63 had sham treatment. Improvement occurred in 59% of the genuinely treated group and in 65% of the placebo group. The results were about the same 2 weeks and 6 weeks after termination of treatment. Thus there was no significant difference between the groups.