Author(s)

Sandra De Breucker^1*, Héloïse Rouvière¹, Christian Mélot², Thierry Appelboom³

¹Geriatrics Department, Hôpital Erasme, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium.
²Emergency Department, Hôpital Erasme, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium.
³Rheumatology Department, Hôpital Erasme, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium.

Introduction: Currently, the therapeutic arsenal of osteoarthritis includes several extracts of Curcuma including Flexofytol^®, a bio-optimized extract of Curcuma longa. However, in older patients, indications for treatment might be limited by comorbidity and polymedication. Therefore, we aimed to assess the benefits and risks of Flexofytol^®, in an older population with comorbidities. Patients and Methods: This retrospective observational study included 31 patients over age 70 years (medianage: 77 years, range 71 - 81) that were treated with Flexofytol for painful osteoarthritis of the knee or lumbar spine. These patients were initially weakened by diabetes (48%) and/or renal insufficiency (71%), or they were taking anticoagulants (35%). The effects of Flexofytol^®, were evaluated at 0, 6 and 12 weeks with visual analog scales for pain and disability and the SF-12 Quality of Life questionnaire. Adverse effects and drug interactions of Flexofytol^®, were evaluated. In particular, we evaluated renal function, diabetes parameters and coagulation tests. The data were analyzed with Kruskal-Wallis and Wilcoxon-Mann-Withney non-parametric tests. Results: Patients with Flexofytol^®, showed significant improvement: pain improved by 50% (p = 0.0002) and functional disability improved by 33% (p = 0.0075). A series of quality of life parameters improved within the first 6 weeks of treatment and up to 3 months of treatment without impacting renal function, metabolic parameters or coagulation tests. We observed no significant adverse effects. Conclusion: In conclusion, our results suggested that Flexofytol^®, may be useful in the management of painful osteoarthritis, particularly in older patients that are fragile due to comorbidity and polymedication. These initial results must be confirmed in future studies.

Lumbar Arthrosis, Knee Osteoarthritis, Curcumin, Flexofytol®, Geriatrics

Breucker, S. , Rouvière, H. , Mélot, C. and Appelboom, T. (2017) Flexofytol^® (A Belgian Curcumin Extract) for the Treatment of Aged Patients with Osteoarthritis and Comorbidity. Open Journal of Rheumatology and Autoimmune Diseases, 7, 167-177. doi: 10.4236/ojra.2017.74017.