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Patients Prefer Hylan G-F 20 Over Intra-Articular Steroids for Knee Osteoarthritis: Presented at AAOS

By Jill Stein

SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- March 12, 2004 -- Patients with osteoarthritis of the knee who are treated with Synvisc (Hylan G-F 20) are more satisfied with their therapy than patients treated with intra-articular steroids, researchers reported on March 11^th here at the 2004 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons.

Gurkirtal Singh, MD, Stanford University Medical School, Palo Alto, California, United States and colleagues compared treatment satisfaction in patients receiving either of the 2 treatments in routine clinical practice.

Patients in their series were enrolled in the Measurement of Outcomes from Viscosupplementation Effectiveness (MOVE) Study, which is a multi-centre, prospective, comparative trial of patients with knee osteoarthritis who are being treated with either Hylan G-F 20 or intra-articular steroids in a real-world setting.

In the United States, Hylan G-F 20 (a cross-linked hyaluronan preparation), is indicated for the treatment of pain in osteoarthritis of the knee in patients who have failed to respond adequately to conservative non-pharmacologic therapy and simple analgesics.

"Clinical trials have demonstrated the efficacy of Hylan G-F 20; however, there are [few] data on its use in regular clinical care," Dr. Singh pointed out. "In addition, while patient satisfaction is an important goal of medical treatment for knee osteoarthritis, few studies have systematically examined this outcome."

Data on patient satisfaction at 6 months were available in 305 patients treated with Hylan G-F 20 and in 107 patients who received intra-articular steroids.

The 2 groups were evenly matched with demographic-to-demographic and clinical characteristics, although the Hylan G-F- 20 group had more males than the intra-articular injection group (37% versus 27%).

The investigators found that the average treatment satisfaction was significantly better in the patients treated with Hylan G-F 20 (6.0 +/- 0.16 compared with 5.3 +/- 0.28 for the 2 groups, respectively, P < 0.02). The best possible score was 10 on a treatment-satisfaction scale ranging from 0 to 10.

Dr. Singh said that the improved patient satisfaction in the Hylan G-F 20 group probably reflects the more durable response that has been shown with Hylan G-F 20 in prior trials.

Osteoarthritis is the most common type of arthritis and is second only to heart disease as the primary diagnosis leading to Social Security disability payments in adults.


Study Title: Treatment Satisfaction in Patients Treated With Hylan G-F 20 Versus Intra-articular Steroids at 6 Months. Abstract: #158.

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