BACKGROUND/ PURPOSE: Apart from climatotherapy and spa therapy, combined treatment with salt water baths and artificial UV radiation (balneophototherapy) has been advocated for the treatment of psoriasis. As there is a lack of controlled studies on balneophototherapy (BPT), we conducted a randomized, one-blind, right/left comparison with salt water versus tap water in order to investigate the significance of the salt concentration in the efficacy of BPT. METHODS:Ten psoriasis patients with chronic plaques on the elbows were included in the study. One elbow was soaked in 24% NaCl solution and the other in tap water. Subsequently, broadband UVB irradiation was administered. BPT was performed 4 times weekly with a total of 30 treatments. RESULTS: A highly significant (P<0.001) decrease of the clinical baseline score was observed after 30 treatments; however, there was no significant (P>0.5) difference in clearance of the psoriatic lesions between the sites soaked in salt water and tap water. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that any additional benefit of soaking in salt water and tap water in BPT are unlikely to be due to the salinity of the liquids.
RCT Entities:
BACKGROUND/ PURPOSE: Apart from climatotherapy and spa therapy, combined treatment with saltwater baths and artificial UV radiation (balneophototherapy) has been advocated for the treatment of psoriasis. As there is a lack of controlled studies on balneophototherapy (BPT), we conducted a randomized, one-blind, right/left comparison with saltwater versus tap water in order to investigate the significance of the salt concentration in the efficacy of BPT. METHODS: Ten psoriasispatients with chronic plaques on the elbows were included in the study. One elbow was soaked in 24% NaCl solution and the other in tap water. Subsequently, broadband UVB irradiation was administered. BPT was performed 4 times weekly with a total of 30 treatments. RESULTS: A highly significant (P<0.001) decrease of the clinical baseline score was observed after 30 treatments; however, there was no significant (P>0.5) difference in clearance of the psoriatic lesions between the sites soaked in saltwater and tap water. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that any additional benefit of soaking in saltwater and tap water in BPT are unlikely to be due to the salinity of the liquids.
Authors: Arianne P Verhagen; Sita M A Bierma-Zeinstra; Maarten Boers; Jefferson R Cardoso; Johan Lambeck; Rob de Bie; Henrica C W de Vet Journal: Cochrane Database Syst Rev Date: 2015-04-11
Authors: Frank Peinemann; Marco Harari; Sandra Peternel; Thalia Chan; David Chan; Alexander M Labeit; Thilo Gambichler Journal: Cochrane Database Syst Rev Date: 2020-05-05