Successful Management of Waja’al-Rukba (Knee Osteoarthritis) with Unani Pharmacopeial Poultice: A Case Study

Abstract

Knee osteoarthritis (Knee OA) is the most common Musculoskeletal disorder, which causes functional disability thus, increasing the economic burden in society. In Unani medicine knee Osteoarthritis is treated with various regimens and drugs. Among these regimens, Dimād (Poultice) is prepared with several single Unani pharmacopeial drugs that exert anti-inflammatory, analgesic and anti-arthritic actions. Keeping this in mind a case study was conducted to assess the efficacy of Dimād-i-jalinus a pharmacopeial Unani formulation in the management of Knee OA. A 63-year-old female patient with chief complaints of pain and swelling in the left knee joint, joint stiffness and mild tenderness feeling severe pain while performing daily activity for the last 6 months was treated at OPD of Hakim Syed Ziaul Hasan Govt. (Auto) Unani Medical College & Hospital, Bhopal. Dimād-i-jalinus was given to the patient, in paste form and the patient was explained to use this paste over the anterior surface of the Left knee joint and the bandage was wrapped to keep the medicines in place overnight every day for 14 days. The patient was assessed at baseline, 7th day and 14th day based on changes in subjective and objective parameters with the help of Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Arthritis Index (WOMAC). The present study reveals that Dimād-i-jalinus is safe and effective in treating Knee OA without any side effects. Therefore, further randomized clinical studies need to be carried out to validate the effectiveness of Dimād-i-jalinus in the management of Knee OA.