A “Clinical Therapeutics” article in the March 12, 2015 New England Journal of Medicine focuses on viscosupplementation for knee osteoarthritis (OA). In presenting a case vignette and making a therapeutic recommendation, Australian author David Hunter, MB, PhD, invokes the old, 2008 AAOS clinical practice guideline (CPG), which, according to Dr. Hunter, “determined that the evidence was inconclusive and a recommendation could not be made for or against the use of intraarticular hyaluronate.” However, the AAOS updated CPGs for knee OA in 2013, and the guideline for viscosupplementation changed substantially. It now reads: “We cannot recommend using hyaluronic acid for patients with symptomatic osteoarthritis of the knee,” and that recommendation receives a “Strong” rating, based on evidence from more recent research studies.
In the end, the patient in the case vignette—a 67-year-old woman with knee pain, radiographic signs of knee OA, and a BMI of 32—was advised not to use hyaluronate injections and instead was encouraged to lose weight and undertake a muscle-strengthening exercise program.