ArticleBMJ open2012
Anabolic steroids in patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty.
Article in BMJ open, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
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.
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.
Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed, 11 citations in OpenAlex.
- Associations between endogenous sex hormones and multisite chronic musculoskeletal pain.British journal of anaesthesia · 2025Article
- Geographical incidence of testosterone supplementation in total hip and knee arthroplasty.Journal of orthopaedics · 2025Article
- Total Serum Testosterone and Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index Pain and Function Among Older Men and Women With Severe Knee Osteoarthritis.Arthritis care & research · 2020Article
- PROFILE OF PATIENTS RECEIVING TOTAL KNEE ARTHROPLASTY: A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY.Acta ortopedica brasileiraArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesTo systematically review the evidence for using anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS) to aid rehabilitation following total knee replacement (TKR).
designSystematic review of all clinical study designs. DATA SOURCES: MEDLINE, EMBASE, AMED, CINAHL and the Cochrane Library were searched from inception to August 2012. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA: All clinical study designs without language or patient demographic limits. OUTCOME MEASURES: All functional, physiological and administrative outcomes as well as reporting of adverse events.
resultsOnly two small randomised controlled trials satisfied the inclusion criteria. Statistically significant improvements were reported in the AAS group for quadriceps strength at 3 (p=0.02), 6 (p=0.01) and 12 (p=0.02) months, Functional Independence Measure score at 35 days (p=<0.05) and Knee Society Score at 6 weeks (p=0.02), 6 months (p=0.04) and 12 months (p=0.03). However, differences in hamstring strength, bone mineral density, sit-to-stand testing, walking speed, length of hospital stay and need for further inpatient rehabilitation did not reach statistical significance. There were no reported adverse events.
conclusionsThere is insufficient evidence to recommend routine administration of AAS to patients undergoing TKR. However, pilot data suggest that AAS can be administered safely and may improve important postoperative outcome measures. This justifies a randomised trial sufficiently powered to identify between-group differences likely to be of clinical significance.
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.