The efficacy of corticosteroid and hyaluronic acid injections for knee osteoarthritis

Impact of Clinical Practice Guidelines on Use of Intra-Articular Hyaluronic Acid and Corticosteroid Injections for Knee Osteoarthritis.

Article specifications

This study was published in 2018 in Journal of J Bone Joint Surg Am. (IF 2016:4.840) by American specialists. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) clinical practice guidelines on the use of these injections in the United States and determine if utilization differed by provider specialty. Patients with knee osteoarthritis were identified within the Humana database from 2007 to 2015, and the percentage of patients receiving a knee injection relative to the number of patients having an encounter for knee osteoarthritis was calculated and was trended for the study period. Of 1,065,175 patients with knee osteoarthritis, 405,101 (38.0%) received a corticosteroid injection and 137,005 (12.9%) received a hyaluronic acid injection.

 

Result

Subtle but significant changes in hyaluronic acid and corticosteroid injections occurred following the publication of both clinical practice guidelines. Although the clinical practice guidelines did impact injection use, given the high costs of these injections and their questionable clinical efficacy, further interventions beyond publishing clinical practice guidelines are needed to encourage higher-value care for patients with knee osteoarthritis.