QUALITY OF LIFE OF PATIENTS WITH LOW BACK PAIN AFTER USING SUSTAMAR AND TENOXICAM
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.11603/1811-2471.2023.v.i2.13904Keywords:
lower back pain, treatment, sustamar, tenoxicam, quality of lifeAbstract
SUMMARY. The presence of pain in the lower back (LBP) has reached pandemic proportions in the developed countries of the world. This pain leads to unbearable suffering and is the reason for calls for urgent help to doctors of different profiles. This is due to the exhausting course and often the absence of a significant effect from the therapy, which leads to a significant decrease in the quality of life. Hence the need for evaluation of an integral indicator of quality of life as a criterion of efficiency and feasibility of developing new approaches to treatment.
The aim – to assess the dynamics of the quality of life indicators in patients with chronic pain in the lower back of vertebral origin under the influence of the herbal preparation sustamar compared to tenoxicam and the combination of sustamar and tenoxicam.
Material and Methods. 78 patients with LBP of vertebrogenic genesis were examined, among whom there were 41 women and 37 men, as well as 15 healthy patients without LBP (control group). On the first day of the visit, patients were randomized into three groups: 1st group (26 patients) received tenoxicam (20 mg once a day); 2nd group (26 patients) – sustamar (1 tablet (480 mg) 2 times a day); 3rd group (26 patients) – sustamar+tenoxicam in appropriate doses. Quality of life was determined both in healthy patients and in those with with LBP at the beginning of treatment and on the 29th day, that is, after 28 days of treatment, using the SF-36 (Medical Outcomes Study Short-Form 36) assessment questionnaire.
Results. The evaluation of the results of the SF-36 questionnaire use in patients with LBP revealed significant changes in their quality of life, as indicated by a decrease of physical activity, increase of pain intensity, and somewhat less of the role of physical problems in limiting life activities. This leads to a significant deterioration of their general health status and, as a result, to a negative impact on the physical health component indicator. At the same time, there is also a decrease of life activity and social activity, a pronounced increase of the role of emotional problems in limiting life activities and pronounced decrease of mental health score, which causes changes of the mental health component indicator.
Analysis of the effectiveness of the use of tenoxicam, sustamar and their combination in patients with LBP by their impact on the quality of life showed that monotherapy with these drugs is inferior compared to their combined administration. It was established that the highest level of physical activity happened after the combined administration of drugs, and the lowest – after sole tenoxicam administration. Similar changes with respect to the indicator of the role of physical problems in limiting life activities, however, are less pronounced. Pain intensity is best affected by a combination of drugs, followed by sustamar and then by tenoxicam. At the same time, the level of general health status significantly improved in patients who received combined treatment, and monotherapy with sustamar is more effective than with tenoxicam. The indicators of life activity and mental health score increased the most after combined treatment, and sustamar was practically more than twice as effective as tenoxicam. In terms of the effect on social activity and the role of emotional problems in limiting life activities indicators, the best one was under the condition of the combined use of drugs, which was superior to effects of sustamar and tenoxicam monotherapies. Treatment with a combination of drugs clearly increased the level of mental health component indicator.
To impact the quality of life in LBP patients, medications can be given in the following order: tenoxicam and sustamar combined, sustamar monotherapy, tenoxicam monotherapy.
Conclusions. Determining quality of life indicators allowed us to measure the severity of lower back pain of vertebral origin syndrome, general health status of the patients, and the effectiveness of sustamar/tenoxicam combination clinical usage compared to monotherapy.
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