A recent study published in March issue of Arthritis and Rheumatism has concluded that a single intraarticular injection of hyaluronic acid is no more effective than placebo in treating the symptoms of hip osteoarthritis.
This is in contrast to the findings by earlier researchers who suggested that one injection of HA could be an effective therapy for hip osteoarthritis.
The present study was a multicenter trial conducted on randomly assigned 85 patients of radiographically confirmed hip osteoarthritis who either received fluoroscopically guided intraarticular injection of hyaluronic acid, or placebo injection. A placebo is a substance or procedure a patient accepts as medicine or therapy, but which has no objectively verifiable therapeutic activity. Any therapeutic effect is thought to be based on the power of suggestion.
The patients were followed for 3 months.
Following parameters were observed
- Mean variation in pain score
- Stiffness
- Disability
At 3 months, the decrease in pain score did not differ between the two groups.
The study has been published in March issue of Arthritis and Rheumatism.
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