Efficacy and safety of intraarticular (IA) hyaluronic acid (Hyalgan) versus placebo and a nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drug for osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee

Intraarticular sodium hyaluronate (Hyalgan) in the treatment of patients with osteoarthritis of the knee: a randomized clinical trial. Hyalgan Study Group.

Article specifications

This clinical trial was published in 1998 in Journal of J Rheumatol. (IF2011: 3.187) by American specialists. The aim of this study was to determine efficacy and safety of intraarticular (IA) hyaluronic acid (HA; Hyalgan) versus placebo and a nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drug for osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee. A series of 5 weekly IA injections of HA (20 mg each) was compared to placebo or oral naproxen in a 26 week, double blind, masked observer, multicenter trial of 495 patients with idiopathic OA.

 

Results

This large, controlled randomized clinical trial confirms that 5 weekly IA injections of HA (Hyalgan) in patients with OA of the knee are generally well tolerated, provide sustained relief of pain and improved patient function, and were at least as effective with fewer adverse reactions as continuous treatment with naproxen for 26 weeks.