Retrospective evaluation of planned treatment programs for patients in İstanbul Atatürk SPA facility

Purpose: Evaluating the demographic data and cure programs of patients admitted to the spa facility for outpatient balneological treatment Material and Method: In this observational and retrospective study, all patients with any complaints and who received outpatient balneological treatment at Atatürk Spa Facility between June 2017 and April 2020 were included. Balneologic therapy of patients in facilities (balneotherapy and peloidotherapy) receiving at least one. The cure program planned by the physician after the examination can be in the form of balneotherapy, peloidotherapy or a combination of both, and when necessary massage, exercise and rehabilitation therapy, which are additional treatment methods, can be added. The cure program, which was planned by the physician in the spa for the patients, was evaluated in detail by examining the records. Results: The balneological treatment method planned for the patients at the facility is the combined treatment of balneotherapy and peloidotherapy. In cases where combined treatment is not preferred, the primary treatment method is balneotherapy. Balneotherapy is applied in the form of immersion, head outside, at 38oC water temperature, in a thermal pool containing special balneological water. The duration of the balneotherapy session is 30 minutes, and the patients are treated with 15 consecutive sessions (at least 5 days a week). Peloidotherapy is performed in 15 consecutive sessions (at least 5 days a week) in the form of local topical peloid packs at 47oC for 20 minutes. The most common areas of peloidotherapy are low back, neck, knee, shoulder and back, respectively. A combination of land exercise and in-water exercise was applied to patients receiving exercise therapy. The average of the number of sessions in which the patients came for treatment was 8.36 days. Conclusion: The results of the study contain information about the retrospective evaluation of the planned cure programs of patients receiving outpatient spa treatment. New clinical studies on this subject are needed to confirm the results of our study. Key words: spa, thermal, balneotherapy, balneology, peloidotherapy, cure