The effect of complex treatment including osteopathic correction on pain intensity and quality of life in patients with chronic tonsillitis

Abstract

Introduction. The relevance of the problem of chronic tonsillitis is due to the wide spread of the disease and the occurrence of complications associated with it, which, in turn, contributes to the appearance of pain and a decrease in the quality of life. Available information about the role of the palatine tonsils as an important organ of the immune system makes conservative treatment methods more preferable. Conventional conservative treatment is reduced to episodic implementation of individual techniques and remains insufficiently effective. Obtaining in-depth knowledge about the mechanisms of development of chronic tonsillitis necessitates the search for an integrated approach to treatment including non-drug methods. Often, questions about the severity of pain in patients that affect the level of quality of life are not given due attention.The aim is to study the effect of complex treatment including osteopathic correction on the quality of life and intensity of pain in patients with chronic tonsillitis.Materials and methods. In a prospective controlled randomized study conducted at the Department of Osteopathy and the Department of Otorhinolaryngology of the North-Western State Medical University named after I. I. Mechnikov of the Ministry of Health of Russia in the period from 06.2022 to 06.2023, 60 patients with a diagnosis of chronic tonsillitis were included. All patients, depending on the treatment, were divided using the randomization envelope method into two groups — main (n=30) and control (n=30). Patients in both groupsreceived otorhinolaryngological treatment in the form of lavage of the palatine tonsils (five rinsing procedures using an antiseptic solution, the interval between procedures was 2 days). Patients in the main group additionally received osteopathic correction (three procedures with an interval of 14 days). In all patients, before and after completion of treatment, the intensity of pain was assessed using a visual analogue scale (VAS) and quality of life using the SF-36 questionnaire.Results. In patients of both the main and control groups, there was a statistically significant decrease in the intensity of sore throat (p<0,05) after treatment. The increase in the level of quality of life in terms of both physical and psychological components of health was statistically significant (p<0,001) in patients of the main group. The level of quality of life in patients in the control group increased only due to the psychological component (p<0,001) of health, and the indicators of the physical component did not change (p=0,092).Conclusion. The inclusion of osteopathic correction in the complex therapy of patients with chronic tonsillitis in the inter-relapse period helps to reduce the pain and improve the physical component of quality of life compared to traditional conservative treatment alone. The study should be continued with a larger sample.