Evaluation of Pancreatotropic and Joint Efficiency of Intracellular Systemic Enzyme in Osteoarthritis

Abstract

Despite the advances of modern evidence-based medicine, the treatment of osteoarthritis (OA) remains a complex and unresolved issue. Of course, modification of the patient’s lifestyle improves the condition of a patient with osteoarthritis, but the management of a patient with osteoarthritis without drug therapy, which is mostly symptomatic, is almost impossible. The objective: was to investigate the effectiveness of intracellular systemic enzyme in the complex therapy of patients with primary OA in comorbidity with exocrine pancreatic insufficiency for the correction of pathological processes developing in patients. Materials and methods. 69 patients with primary OA in comorbidity with exocrine pancreatic insufficiency were examined. The diagnosis of OA was established on the basis of diagnostic criteria of the American College of Rheumatologists (ACR, 2018), the European Association of Rheumatologists (European League Against Rheumatism, EULAR, 2018). American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons (AAOS, 2018), International Society for the Study of OA (OARSI, 2019). Examination of the joints included examination, palpation, and objective assessment of pain. OA symptoms were also assessed by Leken index and the Harris test. To assess the state of exocrine pancreatic insufficiency, the content of fecal α-elastase was determined and the coprogram was evaluated. Patients were divided into two groups: the 1st group received treatment of primary OA according to international recommendations, the 2nd group additionally received an enzymatic drug. Results. After the treatment, patients of the 1st group showed a statistically significant tendency to deterioration of fecal α-elastase and coprogram (p<0,05), in the 2nd group there was a statistically significant improvement of these indicators (p<0,05). There was also a statistically significant improvement in the course of primary OA in both study groups (p<0,05), but in the 2nd group the therapeutic effect was statistically significantly more significant (p<0,05). Conclusions. There was a statistically significant positive dynamics of exocrine pancreatic insufficiency and course of primary OA in the 2nd group compared to those in the 1st after treatment (p<0,05), which indicates the feasibility of using the enzyme drug in the treatment of patients with primary OA in comorbidity with exocrine pancreatic insufficiency.