Effects of serial thermal brine hand baths on hand osteoarthritis: a randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled trial.

Fifty patients were randomized, but only 38 were analyzed because 12 dropped out before providing outcome data. The trial was done in one center during the COVID pandemic, with only one patient treated at a time, so recruitment was difficult and the sample may not represent other clinics. Patients were selected for bilateral painful hand osteoarthritis and excluded if they used pain medicines, had diabetes, vascular disease, sensory deficits, Raynaud disease, smoking, inflammation, trauma, or open wounds. The treatment was six hand baths over three weeks, and follow-up was 12 weeks, so longer term effects are unknown. The tap water sham may have had some effect because it included immersion and the same temperature, so the comparison is not purely placebo versus treatment. The study was designed to detect a difference in pain, not in circulation or VEGF, so null findings on those measures are not decisive. The bath temperature was 25 °C, which may have limited CO2 related circulation effects.

The provided text does not state a funding source. The authors declared no conflict of interest with any financial organization regarding the manuscript.

Do not conclude that thermal brine hand baths improve hand strength or function. Grip strength, hand function and stiffness scores, microcirculation, and VEGF levels did not differ between groups.