To print: Select File and then Print from your browser's menu --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Title: AAOS MEETING: Synvisc Delays Total Knee Replacement In Osteoarthritis Patients URL: http://www.pslgroup.com/dg/E19F2.htm Doctor's Guide February 4, 1999
ANAHEIM, CA -- Feb. 4, 1999 -- Results from a clinical study show that Wyeth-Ayerst Pharmaceuticals' Synvisc(R) (hylan G-F 20), a treatment for osteoarthritis of the knee, provides sufficient pain relief to delay or avoid the need for total knee replacement surgery in 72.6 percent of patients. These findings were presented today at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. "Many people who suffer from osteoarthritis of the knee require surgery to alleviate their pain and restore their mobility," said Edward Miller, M.D., the principal investigator of the study and an associate of Wellington Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine in Cincinnati, OH. "These data suggest that Synvisc not only can relieve pain, but also may enable patients to avoid surgery." Synvisc is used to relieve osteoarthritic knee pain in patients who do not get adequate pain relief from simple painkillers (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, or NSAIDs), cortisone injections, or from exercise and physical therapy. It is derived from natural hyaluronan, the lubricant found in normal joints, and aims to restore the natural elastic and viscous properties of the healthy synovial joint fluid to that of an 18- to 27-year-old. "These results show that viscosupplementation -- the term used to describe this type of treatment -- effectively relieved pain in patients who did not respond to traditional osteoarthritis treatments," Dr. Miller said. "Clearly, these data confirm that Synvisc is a powerful weapon against osteoarthritis of the knee." Osteoarthritis, a chronic, progressive disease of the joints, is one of the leading causes of disability for Americans over age 50. Nearly 16 million Americans have osteoarthritis, including 13.7 million with osteoarthritis of the knee, making it the most common form of arthritis in the U.S. In 1995, nearly 225,000 Americans underwent total knee replacement surgery. The trial was a prospective, single-centre study, involving 108 patients (56 women and 52 men) of an average age of 62 years. Eligible participants included patients with osteoarthritis in one or both knees who either failed to satisfactorily respond to (or were intolerant of) NSAIDs, or who had failed to respond to intra-articular (within a joint) cortisone injections. Patients were treated with three intra-articular injections of Synvisc at one-week intervals. They were followed at one-, three-, six-, 12-, 15- and 18-month intervals (97 patients were followed up to 18 months). Patients were evaluated for pain relief using the Hospital for Special Knee Surgery Rating Scale and the ability to avoid total knee replacement surgery. Results indicated that 72.6 percent of patients treated with Synvisc avoided total knee replacement for the duration of the study. There were no serious long-term adverse events reported in the study, although eight patients experienced acute inflammatory reactions post injection (the night after the first injection through up to five days after the third injection). These patients were treated successfully with NSAIDs, ice, compression and elevation. Related Links: Synvisc, Wyeth-Ayerst Pharmaceuticals' --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright © 1999 P\S\L Consulting Group Inc. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of P\S\L content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of P\S\L. P\S\L shall not be liable for any errors, omissions or delays in this content or any other content on its sites, newsletters or other publications, nor for any decisions or actions taken in reliance on such content. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This news story was printed from *Doctor's Guide to the Internet* located at http://www.docguide.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Return to News Story Page This site is maintained by webmaster@pslgroup.com Please contact us with any comments, problems or bugs. All contents Copyright (c) 1998 P\S\L Consulting Group Inc. All rights reserved.