The Impact of Hyaluronic Acid Injections on Osteoarthritic Knee Mechanics

Osteoarthritis, Knee Clinical Trial

Official title: The Biomechanical Impact of Intra-Articular Hyaluronic Acid in Knee Osteoarthritis Patients: A Randomized, Double Blind, Placebo Controlled Study

Status Active, not recruiting

Clinical Trial Summary

The purpose of this study is to determine the impact of a regular course of treatment with Hyaluronic acid (HA) injections on gait in knee osteoarthritis (OA) patients. Three consecutive HA injections will be compared to three consecutive placebo injections to determine whether HA's analgesic effect is greater than that of a placebo injection, and to observe whether HA's viscoelastic properties are manifested in a human knee OA population. We hypothesize that HA injections will relieve pain to a greater extent than placebo injections in knee OA patients, and will afford them with improved walking characteristics, such as increased walking speed, and step length.

Clinical Trial Description

Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is a severely debilitating disease associated with stiffness and pain in the knee joint, and with a loss of function. Hyaluronic acid (HA) injections are incorporated into non-surgical standard of care for knee OA patients and have been proven to relieve pain in patients who have not received symptomatic relief with other knee OA interventions. HA allows synovial fluid to act as a lubricant and shock absorber for joints, and although this is encouraging ground to advocate for the use of HA treatment in knee OA patients, these properties have yet to be proven in a controlled clinical trial setting. Therefore, we are undertaking this study to observe whether the physiological adaptation in the OA knee joint, initiated by HA injection, will result in biomechanical improvements in human knee OA patients, specifically walking mechanics. ;

Study Design

Allocation: Randomized, Endpoint Classification: Efficacy Study, Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment, Masking: Double Blind (Subject, Caregiver, Investigator, Outcomes Assessor), Primary Purpose: Treatment

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Osteoarthritis
• Osteoarthritis, Knee

• NCT number: NCT00778076
• Study type: Interventional
• Source: University of Western Ontario, Canada
• Status: Active, not recruiting
• Phase: Phase 4
• Start date: July 2008
• Completion date: May 2009