Thermotherapy for treatment of osteoarthritis

Brosseau L, Yonge KA, Robinson V, et al. · Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews

Hot packs produced no significant benefit on any objective measure including edema; the review's positive findings belonged to cold — ice massage improved quadriceps strength (29% relative), ROM and function, and cold packs reduced swelling. Full text read via PMC.

Population

Three RCTs in knee osteoarthritis (179 patients)

Intervention

Superficial heat or cold (hot packs, cold packs, ice massage) vs placebo or standard care

Limitations

Only one included trial used heat, delivered as local hot packs alongside physiotherapy — not whole-body heat; all trials small and methodologically varied; 2003 search date.