Compare three different hyaluronate formulations and evaluate functionality, time of satisfactory pain relief and also the delay in performing a total hip arthroplasty

Viscosupplementation in the hip: evaluation of hyaluronic acid formulation

Article specifications

This clinical trial was published in 2008 in journal of Archives of Orthopaedic and Trauma Surgery (IF 2006:2.28) by Belgian orthopedics. This study compares three different hyaluronate formulations and evaluates functionality, time of satisfactory pain relief and also the delay in performing a total hip arthroplasty. 120 patients (126 hips), 49 males and 71 females, responding to the eligibility criteria listed below, received viscosupplementation. Three different products were consecutively used: Adant®  (Group 1) (Synthetic hyaluronic acid with an average molecular weight of 0.6–1.2 million Da), Synocrom® (Group 2) (Sodium hyaluronate with an average molecular weight of 1.6 million Da) or Synvisc® (Group 3) (Hylan GF 20 with an average molecular weight of 6.0 million Da)

Results

The results of the study showed that there is no significant difference in duration of the effect of the first infiltration between the three groups. The positive effect was still ongoing at the end point of the study in 46 hips: 51% of the patients did not undergo total hip arthroplasty, 3 years after viscosupplementation. Viscosupplementation with hyaluronic acid seems to be a valuable technique for the management of painful OA of the hip that may delay the need for surgical intervention.