Clinical Medicine Insights: Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Disorders

Background: Osteoarthritis (OA) is a chronic degenerative joint disease that is a clinically and economically important disease. The increased prevalence of OA with aging, coupled to the demographics of aging populations, make OA a high priority health care problem. Viscosupplementation (VS) is a well-established treatment option in knee OA that is included in the professional guidelines for treatment of this joint disease, and could potentially provide a useful alternative in treating such patients with painful OA. Theoretically VS is an approach that should apply to all synovial joints.

Objectives: The aim of this review is to assess the efficacy and safety of viscosupplementation with Hylan GF-20 (Synvisc®) in the management of joint pain in osteoarthritis.

Methods: The following databases were searched: Medline, Database of Abstract on Reviews and Effectiveness, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. Furthermore, the lists of references of retrieved publications were manually checked for additional references. The search terms Review, Viscosupplementation, Osteoarthritis, Hyaluronic acid, Hyaluronan, Sodium Hyaluronate, Hylan GF-20, Synvisc, intra-articular injection were used to identify all studies relating to the use of Synvisc® viscosupplementation therapy in OA.

Results: Hylan GF-20 is a safe and effective treatment for decreasing pain and improving function in patients suffering from knee and hip OA but new evidences are emerging for its use in other joints.