Clinical Experience With the Effectiveness and Tolerability of Hylan G-F 20 in 1047 Patients With Osteoarthritis of the Knee

Abstract

This retrospective review evaluates the effectiveness and tolerability of hylan G-F 20 for relief of pain due to knee osteoarthritis in a large orthopedic practice over a 5-year period. Prospectively collected data from patients who initiated intra-articular hylan G-F 20 (3 weekly injections) for osteoarthritis knee pain treatment were analyzed. Effi cacy variables included physician visual analogue scale (VAS: 100 mm), and patient rating of pain, mobility, and amount of pain medication taken after treatment. Patients (nϭ1047; 1489 knees) were an average age of 65.3 years, 60% female, and 71% had radiologic osteoarthritis grade IV. Mean VAS scores signifi cantly improved with hylan G-F 20 compared to baseline at all time points (PϽ.0001).Most knees (62%-89%) responded positively with hylan G-F 20. Pain and mobility improved and less pain medication was needed after therapy. The incidences of local adverse events were 5.2% per patient and 1.2% per injection; most local adverse events were mild or moderate, with severe local events in 0.3% of injections. Our clinical experience shows that hylan G-F 20 effectively relieves osteoarthritis knee pain (as indicated) and reduces pain medication needed for up to 6 months with a low incidence of local adverse events.

Treating knee osteoarthritis with intra-articular hyaluronans

“…Open-label prospective, comparative, and retrospective studies also showed improvement of symptoms of knee OA after treatment with sodium hyaluronate 25,32 and hylan G-F 20 [33][34][35][36][37] . In studies comparing hylan G-F 20 with other knee OA treatments, viscosupplementation was an effective adjunct or alternative therapy.…”

Cost-effectiveness Analysis of Viscosupplementation versus Conventional Supportive Therapy for Knee Osteoarthritis in Colombia

“…The annual change in WOMAC scores for patients receiving hylan G-F 20 is estimated on the basis of results of randomized controlled trials [15][16][17][18]. The available evidence suggests that the benefit obtained by viscosupplementation with hylan G-F 20 is sustained over time [10][11][12][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23]; in light of this, the WOMAC scores after the first year are assigned randomly taking into account the clinical outcome for the previous years.…”

“…The available evidence suggests that the benefit obtained by viscosupplementation with hylan G-F 20 is sustained over time [10][11][12][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23]; in light of this, the WOMAC scores after the first year are assigned randomly taking into account the clinical outcome for the previous years. The information about score variation is available as reported by Raman et al [24].…”

Hyaluronic acid vs corticosteroids in symptomatic knee osteoarthritis: a mini-review of the literature

“…HA is generally considered safe compared to CSs or saline (17,35,(40)(41)(42)52). Furthermore, HA is considered safe also after a previous course of HA injections (35,37,40).…”