Therapeutic efficacy and safety of intra-articular injection of hyaluronic acid for osteoarthritis of the knee

Therapeutic effects of hyaluronic acid on osteoarthritis of the knee. A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

Article specifications

This meta-analysis was published in 2004 in Journal of J Bone Joint Surg Am. (IF 2016: 4.840) by Taiwan specialists. The aim of this meta-analysis was to elucidate the therapeutic efficacy and safety of intra-articular injection of hyaluronic acid for osteoarthritis of the knee. We conducted a meta-analysis of twenty blinded randomized controlled trials that compared the therapeutic effect of intra-articular injection of hyaluronic acid with that of intra-articular injection of a placebo to treat osteoarthritis of the knee.

 

Results

This meta-analysis confirmed the therapeutic efficacy and safety of intra-articular injection of hyaluronic acid for the treatment of osteoarthritis of the knee. Additional well-designed randomized controlled trials with high methodological quality are needed to resolve the continued uncertainty about the therapeutic effects of different types of hyaluronic acid products on osteoarthritis of the knee in various clinical situations and patient populations.