Study: Arthritis Treatment Not Helpful

Injections of a shock-absorbing substance don’t help arthritic knees very much, if at all, a review of research has found. The review focused on viscosupplementation. The treatment involves injections of hyaluronate. This is a synthetic version of a shock absorber found in joints. The research review focused on 89 studies. They included a total of 12,667 people with severe osteoarthritis in the knees. Some received injections of hyaluronate. Others got either placebo (fake) injections or no treatment. Overall, the review found, there was little reduction of pain for people who got the real injections. There was no improvement in knee function. Some of the studies also found an increased risk of side effects. These included “flare-ups” of pain and inflammation in the knee. The journal Annals of Internal Medicine published the study online. HealthDay News wrote about it June 11.