Intra-articular hyaluronan injections for the treatment of osteoarthritis of the knee: A randomized, double blind, placebo controlled study

Objective: Hyaluronic acid (HA) polymers have been found to be useful as vi scosupplements for the treatment of osteoarthritis (OA) in a number of clin ical studies. It appears that HA with high molecular weights (HMW) are more effective than low molecular weight HA polymers. Methods: A single blind, initial randomized study was conducted involving t wo randomly selected patient groups, which received injections of either pl acebo or BioHy (TM), a highly purified HMW HA produced by bacterial ferment ation. HA was administered intra-articularly and several functional tests, including pain level, stiffness, and physical function, were used to score efficacy at various intervals throughout the study. Results and conclusion: The results through week 20 indicate that BioHy (TM ) provides relief for osteoarthritic patients without causing adverse effec ts, although the study was not sufficient powered to obtain statistically s ignificant differences between the treatment groups.