Joint injections allow your joint to receive lubricating hyaluronate for better mobility and less pain. At Spruce Health Group in Colorado, the integrative health care team often recommends joint injections to treat knee pain from osteoarthritis. To find out if you’re a good candidate for joint injections, call Spruce Health Group to book an appointment today.

For more information on joint injections in the treatment of osteoarthritis, please reference this article below.

https://www.jwatch.org/fw109707/2015/01/06/meta-analysis-examines-treatments-knee-osteoarthritis

Meta-Analysis Examines Treatments for Knee Osteoarthritis

By Amy Orciari Herman

Edited by David G. Fairchild, MD, MPH

For patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA), intraarticular (IA) treatments offer the greatest pain relief — although possibly due to a placebo effect — while oral acetaminophen offers the least benefit, according to a network meta-analysis in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

The analysis included nearly 140 randomized trials involving some 33,000 adults with primary knee OA. The following interventions were examined: acetaminophen, diclofenac, ibuprofen, naproxen, celecoxib, IA corticosteroids, IA hyaluronic acid, and placebo. Symptom changes from baseline to 3 months were assessed.

In terms of pain, all active treatments were statistically significantly better than oral placebo, with acetaminophen providing the least benefit and IA hyaluronic acid providing the greatest. All but acetaminophen were considered clinically better than oral placebo. IA treatments were superior to oral therapies, including IA placebo versus oral placebo.

For function, all but IA corticosteroids were better than oral placebo. For stiffness, most treatments were similar.

The authors and editorialists point to the apparent placebo effect with IA therapies, as well as the need for longer-term follow-up.

Links:

Annals of Internal Medicine article (Free abstract)

Annals of Internal Medicine editorial (Subscription required)

Background: Physician’s First Watch coverage of knee OA management guidelines (Free)