Source: AIDS  |  Posted 9 years ago

Sodium hyaluronate is effective and well tolerated for long-term treatment of osteoarthritic pain, Austrian researchers report.

Investigators from the Institut fur Rheumatologie der Kurstadt Baden in Baden, Universitaetklinik fur Orthopadie and ZAK-Pharma Dienstleistung Ges.m.b.H in Wien, suggest that therapy can be delivered either as a single or repeat course of 5 intra-articular injections in yearlong treatment of knee osteoarthritis.

One hundred and eight patients were enrolled in a multi-centre, observational study. Participants had documented knee pain for at least 20 days per month and a score for pain of at least 3.3 cm on a 10-cm visual analogue scale (VAS).

They were treated with sodium hyaluronate once a week for 5 weeks. The cycle was repeated if patients continued to fill enrolment criteria, but not before month 4.

Fifty nine patients completed the first 12-month cycle without requiring a second course of treatment. A second cycle was required by 14 of the remaining 49 patients.

Primary efficacy parameter was pain on movement as measured by VAS. Secondary parameters included pain on movement and at rest on the Likert scale, pain at rest on VAS, knee joint function, walking time and global assessment.

Beginning 1 week after the first cycle, all patients had significant improvements in all of the efficacy parameters for 12 months of follow-up. Tolerability was good or very good in more than 90% of participants.

While 4 patients withdrew because of adverse events, only 1 event was considered to be drug related.