Delivering significant ankle pain relief
In a recent study, ORTHOVISC delivered significant reductions in pain for OA of the ankle for at least 27 weeks (Graph 1).4
- 26 patients suffering from unilateral talocrural osteoarthritis of degree 2 on the Osteoarthritis Scoring Scale were followed in a longitudinal, prospective, blind study.
- Decreases in VAS scores for "pain during walking" and "pain at rest" were noted at weeks 7, 15 and 27 in patients receiving 3x1 mL injections of ORTHOVISC.
- The results of the study demonstrated that viscosupplementation in the ankle with ORTHOVISC is safe and well tolerated. Adverse events reported were mainly mild to moderate temporary local swelling and increased pain in the injected ankle.
Graph 1. Median change of VAS scores from baseline for pain during walking
Promising hand treatment
EULAR provides clinical evidence that intra-articular hyaluronan may be useful in treating trapeziometacarpal OA.2
- In one study, men with trapeziometacarpal OA showed significant reductions in pain at the end of 5 months.
- In a separate study, hyaluronan was as effective as corticosteroid for relieving pain in patients with trapeziometacarpal OA and may be longer lasting.
Improved TMJ function
Treatment with high molecular weight sodium hyaluronate (15 mg/mL) provided clear and consistent benefit for at least 6 months after one injection (Graph 2).5
- 121 patients were included in the double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial.
- At 2-month and 3-month examination intervals, approximately twice as many patients receiving sodium hyaluronate showed improvement in comparison with those receiving placebo.
- Injection of sodium hyaluronate into the TMJ appears to be a safe procedure and essentially indistinguishable from a saline placebo in its likelihood of producing adverse occurrences.
Graph 2. Improvement in mean total anamnestic score, which showed the patient's own evaluations of pain and dysfunction, between pre-injection visit and each monthly post-injection visit for the DDR (reducing displaced disk) category
In another 6-month study, two 1 mL injections of 15 mg/mL sodium hyaluronate delivered significant improvements in TMJ function.6
- Mouth function improved by 22% (p<0.0001)
- Lower jaw pain decreased by 28% (p<0.0001)
- Pain with palpation of TMJ reduced by 24% (p<0.0001)
4Sierevelt IN, Blankevoort L, van Dijk CN. The effects and dose-dependency of intra-articular high molecular weight sodium hyaluronate ORTHOVISC injections in the osteoarthritic ankle joint: a pilot study. Presented at the Dutch Orthopaedic Association conference, 2005.
5Bertolami C, Gay T, Clark G, Rendell J, Shetty V, Changrui L, Swann D. Use of sodium hyaluronate in treating temporomandibular joint disorders: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial. J Oral Maxillofac Surg 1993;51:232-242.
6Orkun F, Aytaç F, Evcik D. Clinical use of sodium hyaluronate in treating temporomandibular joint dysfunction. Phys Med 2000; 3(1):2.
