McCarthy G M, McCarty D J
Department of Medicine, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee 53226.
J Rheumatol. 1992 Apr;19(4):604-7.
Topical capsaicin 0.075% was evaluated for the treatment of the painful joints of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and osteoarthritis (OA) in a 4 week double blind, placebo controlled randomized trial. Twenty-one patients were selected, all of whom had either RA (n = 7) or OA (n = 14) with painful involvement of the hands. Assessments of pain (visual analog scale), functional capacity, morning stiffness, grip strength, joint swelling and tenderness (dolorimeter) were performed before randomization. Treatment was applied to each painful hand joint 4 times daily with reassessment at 1, 2 and 4 weeks after entry. One subject did not complete the study. Capsaicin reduced tenderness (p less than 0.02) and pain (p less than 0.02) associated with OA, but not RA as compared with placebo. A local burning sensation was the only adverse effect noted. These findings suggest that topical capsaicin is a safe and potentially useful drug for the treatment of painful OA of the hands.
在一项为期4周的双盲、安慰剂对照随机试验中，对0.075%的外用辣椒素治疗类风湿性关节炎（RA）和骨关节炎（OA）的疼痛关节进行了评估。选取了21名患者，他们均患有手部疼痛的RA（n = 7）或OA（n = 14）。在随机分组前，对疼痛（视觉模拟量表）、功能能力、晨僵、握力、关节肿胀和压痛（痛觉计）进行了评估。每天对每个疼痛的手部关节进行4次治疗，并在入组后1、2和4周进行重新评估。一名受试者未完成研究。与安慰剂相比，辣椒素可减轻与OA相关的压痛（p < 0.02）和疼痛（p < 0.02），但对RA无效。唯一观察到的不良反应是局部烧灼感。这些发现表明，外用辣椒素是一种安全且可能有效的治疗手部疼痛性OA的药物。
