HandTutor Important Adjunct to Medication for Arthritis Therapy

Dr. C. Gabay etal of the American College of Rheumatology writing in ”Arthritis & Rheumatism”, September 8, 2011
about an evaluation of the symptomatic effect of highly purified chondroitin 4&6 sulfate (CS) in patients with hand osteoarthritis (OA).
He initiated a single-center, randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, clinical trial that included 162 symptomatic patients with radiographic hand OA (ACR criteria). Inclusion criteria included global spontaneous hand pain on a 0-100 mm visual analogue scale (VAS) of at least 40 mm, and a level of functional impairment of at least 6 on the Functional Index for Hand OA (FIHOA: 0-30 scale), in the most symptomatic hand. Patients received either 800 mg CS (n=80 patients) or placebo (n= 82 patients) once daily for 6 months and were analyzed in an intent-to-treat approach. The two primary outcomes were the change from baseline to month 6 in global spontaneous hand pain and in hand function. Secondary outcomes were improvement in grip strength, duration of morning stiffness, acetaminophen consumption, and a global impression of efficacy.
The results of the study were:
A decrease in global hand pain was significantly more pronounced in the CS than in the placebo group (VAS: -8.7 mm, P=0.02). Hand function improved significantly more in the CS than in the placebo group (FIHOA: -2.14, P=0.008). There was a statistically significant difference between groups in favour of CS for the duration of morning stiffness and for the global impression on treatment efficacy. Evolution of grip strength, acetaminophen consumption, and safety endpoints were not significantly different between the two groups.
The conclusion drawn was that
this study demonstrates that CS improves hand pain and function in symptomatic hand OA, with a good safety profile.
In addition to medication the HandTutor has been very successful in improving hand and wrist movement in patients suffering from Rheumatism and many other disabilities. The HandTutor™ system is an active exercise based hand rehabilitation program that uses the accepted methods of impairment oriented training (IOT) with augmented feedback. The HandTutor™ evaluates and treats finger and hand movement dysfunction through exercises that encourage extension/ flexion of the finger(s) and wrist.The HandTutor™ system consists of a safe comfortable glove, with position and speed sensors that precisely record finger and wrist motion, and dedicated rehabilitation software. The ergonomic gloves come in five sizes for both right and left hands. The rehabilitation system employs the known concept of biofeedback to give occupational and physical therapists access to an affordable user friendly hand rehabilitation package. The HandTutor™ can also be used in combination with the 3DTutor™ for arm rehabilitation. The HandTutor™ is CE medical and FDA certified. Used currently in leading U.S. and foreign hospitals and clinics the Tutor system is designed for children as well as adults and can be used in the patient’s home with telerehabilitation.