Knee pain injection treatment receives safety approval

A new treatment for patients with knee osteoarthritis has received the backing of researchers following a new study.

Meta-analysis of 29 randomised studies involving more than 4,500 patients with knee osteoarthritis found that a therapy known as intra-articular hyaluronic acid (HA) injections provided "significant improvement" in pain and function, when compared to saline injections.

The study, which was published online this month in Clinical Medicine Insights: Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Disorders, also included results from randomised peer-reviewed studies of six HA injection brands, with identical treatment follow-up between the treatment and control groups.

Dr Mark Snyder, an orthopedic surgeon from the TriHealth Orthopedic and Spine Institute in Cincinnati, Ohio, said the findings of the meta-analysis are "important, but not unexpected".

He added: "The safety data in the meta-analysis comes from studies that only used FDA-approved HAs. The data set is consistent with what I and many other physicians have clinically observed for many years - HAs have been found to be safe, can help relieve knee pain from osteoarthritis, and are appropriate treatment for people with mild to moderate forms of the disease."

Although neither HA nor saline injections resulted in serious adverse events, researchers found significant effects between four and 26 weeks for knee pain and function compared to pre-injection values.

This represents approximately a 50 per cent improvement in pain and function from baseline with viscosupplementation and, in addition, improvements in knee pain and function with viscosupplementation were statistically superior compared to saline injections for both.

Dr Snyder explained that the findings differ with the analysis conducted this year by a US-based orthopaedic physician society - which also included products that were not FDA approved - and are critical in helping physicians and patients to make more informed decisions.

He concluded: "Currently, there are limited treatment options available to healthy people with mild to moderate knee osteoarthritis. Access to HA treatments is a great option for those who are seeking help in staying active."