Evidence map›Paper›PMID 15249319›Full record

Trial reportAnnals of the rheumatic diseases2004

Paracetamol in osteoarthritis of the knee.

C Miceli-Richard, M Le Bars, N Schmidely, M Dougados

Open access · bronzeAbstract readClinical TrialMulticenter StudyRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in Annals of the rheumatic diseases, 2004. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
22citing papers in PubMed, 5 pooled it
7.1field-weighted citation impact, top 3% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

22 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 85 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Paracetamol versus placebo for knee and hip osteoarthritis.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2019
    Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. Acetaminophen for osteoarthritis.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2006
    Pooled it
  5. Pooled it
  6. Trial
  7. Trial
  8. The Current Role of Disease-modifying Osteoarthritis Drugs.The archives of bone and joint surgery · 2023
    Review
  9. Article
  10. Review
  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Managing osteoarthritis.Australian prescriber · 2015
    Review
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Review
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

C Miceli-RichardCochin Hospital, AP-HP, René Descartes University, Paris, France.
M Le Bars
N Schmidely
M Dougados
Bristol-Myers Squibb (France) · FRAssistance Publique – Hôpitaux de Paris · FRDélégation Paris 5 · FR

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundParacetamol is a recommended symptomatic treatment of osteoarthritis (OA), but in clinical trials sample sizes have been relatively small and variable daily doses of paracetamol have been used.

objectivesTo determine the therapeutic efficacy of paracetamol in OA of the knee and identify predictive factors of clinical response to treatment.

methodsA double blind, parallel group, placebo controlled trial of analgesic efficacy and safety of paracetamol versus placebo including 779 patients with OA of the knee. Patients were randomly assigned to receive paracetamol 4 g/day (n = 405) or placebo (n = 374) for 6 weeks. Symptomatic OA of the knee was required at inclusion with global pain intensity of the knee during physical activities for the past 24 hours of >or=30 mm on a 100 mm visual analogue scale. The primary end point was a 30% decrease of global pain intensity of the knee. Intention to treat analyses were performed.

resultsThe percentage of responders did not differ significantly between groups: 52.6% and 51.9% in paracetamol and placebo groups, respectively (p = 0.840). In a subgroup of patients with chronic mechanical knee pain without signs of inflammation (n = 123), the mean change in pain intensity from baseline was 25.2 mm v 15.2 mm, in the paracetamol (n = 63) and placebo (n = 60) groups, respectively-mean difference 10.0 mm; 95% CI 1.0 to 19.0; p = 0.0294. No serious adverse events were attributable to treatment.

conclusionA statistically significant symptomatic effect of oral paracetamol 4 g/day over placebo was not found, suggesting that paracetamol use in symptomatic OA of the knee should be further explored. The tolerability and safety of paracetamol, at the recommended maximum dose of 4 g/day, was confirmed over 6 weeks.

Indexed as

AcetaminophenAgedAged, 80 and overAnalgesics, Non-NarcoticDouble-Blind MethodExerciseFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedOsteoarthritis, KneePain MeasurementPatient CompliancePatient SatisfactionSeverity of Illness IndexTreatment OutcomeAcetaminophenAnalgesics, Non-Narcotic

Identifiers

PMID15249319
PMCPMC1755093
OpenAlexW2157651084

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.