Is research into the treatment of osteoarthritis with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs misdirected?

Intra-articular injections of 750 kD hyaluronan in the treatment of osteoarthritis: a randomised single centre double-blind placebo-controlled trial of 91 patients demonstrating lack of efficacy.

“…Through the same needle, the patient received an intra-articular injection of either 20 90(1(00)"',) 1minutes) and on standardised active and 8 (32"') 13 (50",',) passive movement was recorded as a 100 mm 63-9 (1 9) 72 1 (1 7) 60 0 ( 1 9) 67 ( (1 7) VAS score by the patient at each visit. With the patient's knee fully extended, patello-femoral 10 (50W/o) 20 (80"') 15 acts of daily living on a 100 mm VAS were recorded, as was the weekly quantity of escape analgesia required. On the eighth visit (week 5), one week after the final injection, the affected knee was aspirated only.…”

The effect of niacinamide on osteoarthritis: A pilot study

“…Current medical treatments do not halt the long-term progression of the disease [1] and research on OA is disproportionately directed toward the use of NSAIDs for short-term symptomatic treatment [2].…”

Homophily and co-occurrence patterns shape randomized trials agendas: illustration in antifungal agents

“…For example, in a metaanalysis of second-vs. first generation antipsychotics [23], 95% of the trials used haloperidoal as the comparator, which is known to be a suboptimal choice [24]. Dieppe et al [25] have noticed selective comparisons of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) for osteoarthritis. Paracetamol was never compared with NSAIDs for trivial musculareskeletal disorders, such as sports injuries until recently, although this is the main use of NSAIDs [26].…”