Published on
Updated
Reading 2 mins.
In knee osteoarthritis, there is a technique called viscosupplementation, which involves injecting hyaluronic acid into the joint to relieve pain and promote mobility. Its effectiveness is called into question in a large study conducted by an international group of researchers.
This is a meta-analysis of 21,163 patients included in a total of 169 trials. All the volunteers had gonarthrosis, localized osteoarthritis within the knee joint.
Main criterion studied: pain
The scientists therefore studied the data from all these studies, based on one main criterion: pain. “The primary endpoint was pain intensity. Secondary outcomes were function and serious adverse events” write the authors.
Among the volunteers in the studies, some participants received this viscosupplementation, while others received a placebo treatment or no treatment at all.
A “not significant” reduction in pain
According to the authors’ results, viscosupplementation allows a slight reduction in pain, compared to the placebo. These hyaluronic acid injections were also associated with a higher risk of serious adverse effects than placebo.
Hence the conclusion of the scientists, without appeal: a wide use of viscosupplementation to treat osteoarthritis of the knee was “not justified”. In addition, the harmful effects following an injection of this type “would increase by 49%” estimate the researchers.
Consult a GP online
A practice enshrined in the recommendations
Asked about the question, Dr. Laurent Grange, rheumatologist at the Grenoble-Alpes University Hospital and member of the Doctissimo expert committee, the results of this study are to be qualified. “The efficacy of viscosupplementation is known to be low to moderate. In the meta-analyses, the studies are often disparate with varying degrees of osteoarthritis, from stage 1 to stage 4, hence very different results. first explains the specialist.
“Moreover, the injection of sterile water into the knee is not quite a placebo because it dilutes the synovial fluid and has minimal effectiveness. Finally, in real conditions, viscosupplementation helps a lot some patients and has no effect for others, actually… The trick is to find the profile of the patients for whom it will work. In addition, we are starting to have predictive criteria of effectiveness so I think that we should not give up viscosupplementation which remains a good treatment for gonarthrosis” concludes the doctor.