SAT0091 Effects of joint lavage and hyaluronic acid infiltration in patients with osteoarthritis of the knee

Abstract

Background Infiltration with hyaluronic acid (HA) and joint lavage (JL) have recently been proposed as local treatments for osteoarthritis of the knee. Joint lavage is a therapeutic treatment involving passing cold sterile 0.9% saline through the knee joint in order to have the liquid reach the inside of the joint capsule. Objectives To evaluate the efficacy of joint lavage and intraarticular infiltration with hyaluronic acid, alone and in combination (JLHA), as symptomatic treatments for knee osteoarthritis. Methods An overall 37 patients (8 males and 29 females) aged 43–85 years with knee osteoarthritis of radiological grade II on the Kellgren scale were randomly classified into three thera-peutic groups, namely: JL (n = 14), HA (n = 10) and JLHA (n = 13). The patients in group JL received joint lavage, on day 0 only; those in group JLHA were subjected to joint lavage on day 0 and to infiltration on days 0, 7, 14, 21 and 28. Outcome measures evaluated at baseline, at days 7 and 30 included severity of pain (VAS), Global status (VAS) and Lequesne?s functional index. Results The results of the Global Status difference from baseline are summarised in the following Table 1: Conclusion Our results suggest significant differences between the tested treatments, Joint lavage alone and followed by infiltration with the hyaluronic acid is more effective than local infiltration with hyaluronic acid alone.