Introduction: The prevalence of osteoarthritis has increased with higher life expectancy and is the most common arthritic disease. Most commonly affected body part is the hand, specifically the carpometacarpal joint of the thumb. Individuals who suffer from osteoarthritis of the carpometacarpal joint of the thumb experience swelling and pain along the base of the thumb and the ball of the thumb and have difficulty during tasks that require a hand grip due to reduced functional abilities. Purpose: The purpose of the thesis is to compare the effectiveness of a thumb orthosis and conventional therapy in osteoarthritis of the carpometacarpal joint of the thumb based on a review of scientific and professional literature. Methods: We searched for professional literature in the English language in the PubMed and Google Scholar databases from the end of October 2022 to the middle of July 2023. The used keywords were: osteoarthritis and cmc joint; orthotic treatment of osteoarthritis in cmc, effectiveness of conservative treatment in osteoarthritis of cmc. Results: We included 22 articles in the thesis. All six included orthotic treatment studies reported efficacy in reducing pain, increasing hand grip and lateral grip strength. The other sixteen articles describe other treatment approaches (intra-articular application of corticosteroids, manual therapy, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) that have been shown to be moderately effective in the short term. Discussion and conclusion: Based on the review of the literature, we found that there is no single approach to the treatment of osteoarthritis. By injecting corticosteroids and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, we can influence the reduction of pain, but side effects and short-term effectiveness are more noticeable. Manual therapy has moderate positive effects on pain reduction. The use of an orthosis can improve grip strength, lateral grip strength and reduce pain, but problem is choosing the appropriate orthosis. Orthosis have been shown as most effective for pain relief while improving or maintaining hand function, best when combined with other methods. Future studies should focus on approaches that are effective in the long term, while also defining a unified approach for the treatment of osteoarthritis of the carpometacarpal joint of the thumb.
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