The use of hyaluronic acid in the treatment of ankle osteoarthritis

The use of hyaluronic acid in the treatment of ankle osteoarthritis: a review of the evidence.

Article specifications

This review was published in 2017 in Journal of Biol Regul Homeost Agents. (IF 2011:2.96) by Italian specialists. The aim of this study was systematically review literature to evaluate the best evidence about short and long term effectiveness of intra-articular HA injections in the treatment of ankle OA. After having screened titles and abstracts from PubMed, Ovid, Cochrane Reviews, Google Scholar, we identified 14 full text articles and collected the outcome rates of intra-articular cycles of HA injections in patients with symptomatic ankle OA.

 

Result

Although randomized trials showed scores improvement also in placebo-treated patients, current evidence suggests that viscosupplementation for treatment of ankle OA is a safe and effective method. More randomized controlled trials with a large number of patients that compare not only the different types, dosages and frequency of HA injections, but also the effectiveness of HA versus corticosteroids infiltrations and HA versus other types of conservative treatment are still needed.