Osteoarthritis (OA) is a serious sociomedical problem, one of the leading causes of persistent disability and reduced quality of life. Modern publications on the use of transdermal drug formulations for OA evaluate the efficiency and safety of isolated drug administration. Pulse magnetotherapy is a modern method for potentiating the therapeutic effects of both the drug and the magnetic field (MF) in the single magnetophoretic technique. Objective: to determine the effect of pulsed MF on the clinical efficacy and tolerability of magnetophoretic transdermal diclofenac delivery in patients with gonarthrosis. Subjects and methods. A clinical randomized placebo-controlled study was conducted in 65 patients with Kellgren-Lawrence grade 2-3 knee OA, who were divided into 3 groups. Group 1 including 25 patients received magnetophoretic diclofenac gel delivery using a traveling MF (intensity, 20 mT; frequency, 6.25 Hz; exposure. 20 min, 12 sessions); Group 2 consisting of 20 patients used placebo magnetotherapy with diclofenac without MF; Group 3 comprising 20 patients had low-frequency pulse magnetotherapy with traveling MF without topical diclofenac therapy. VAS and WOMAC and the EQ-5D questionnaire were used during the examination. The results of treatment were analyzed according to the OMERACT-OARSI criterion. Results. According to VAS and WOMAC scores, combination therapy showed a marked analgesic effect in the patients who had received magnetotherapy (p<0.01), as well as a significant reduction in stiffness and an improvement in functional characteristics, which were more pronounced in those who had magnetophoresis (p<0.001). According to the EQ-5D questionnaire, magnetotherapy was noted to have a positive impact on quality-of-life indicators. Analysis according the OMERACT-OARSI criterion demonstrated a high rate (67.8%) of response to magnetophoretic sis using diclofenac application formulations. Conclusion. Magnetophoretic transdermal diclofenac delivery using low-frequency pulsed MF is effective and safe for patients with knee OA and causes no serious adverse events.
