Trial reportAnnals of the rheumatic diseases2013
Efficacy and safety of strontium ranelate in the treatment of knee osteoarthritis: results of a double-blind, randomised placebo-controlled trial.
Trial report in Annals of the rheumatic diseases, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 114 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled 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.
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
114 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 288 citations in OpenAlex.
- Factors Contributing to Variability in Longitudinal Pain Scores in Osteoarthritis Randomised Clinical Trials: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.European journal of pain (London, England) · 2026Pooled it
- The Efficacy and Safety of Disease-Modifying Osteoarthritis Drugs for Knee and Hip Osteoarthritis-a Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis.Journal of general internal medicine · 2021Pooled it
- Risk factors for pain and functional impairment in people with knee and hip osteoarthritis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMJ open · 2020Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Strontium ranelate as a possible disease-modifying osteoarthritis drug: a systematic review.Brazilian journal of medical and biological research = Revista brasileira de pesquisas medicas e biologica · 2018Pooled it
- Novel Approach to Estimate Osteoarthritis Progression: Use of the Reliable Change Index in the Evaluation of Joint Space Loss.Arthritis care & research · 2019Trial
- Statin use and knee osteoarthritis progression: Results from a post-hoc analysis of the SEKOIA trial.Joint bone spine · 2018Trial
- Spa therapy adjunct to pharmacotherapy is beneficial in rheumatoid arthritis: a crossover randomized controlled trial.International journal of biometeorology · 2018Trial
- A 12-week randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled multicenter study of choline-stabilized orthosilicic acid in patients with symptomatic knee osteoarthritis.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2017Trial
- Effect of spa therapy with saline balneotherapy on oxidant/antioxidant status in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: a single-blind randomized controlled trial.International journal of biometeorology · 2017Trial
- Structural effects of sprifermin in knee osteoarthritis: a post-hoc analysis on cartilage and non-cartilaginous tissue alterations in a randomized controlled trial.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2016Trial
- Brief report: intraarticular sprifermin not only increases cartilage thickness, but also reduces cartilage loss: location-independent post hoc analysis using magnetic resonance imaging.Arthritis & rheumatology (Hoboken, N.J.) · 2015Trial
- Meniscal extrusion promotes knee osteoarthritis structural progression: protective effect of strontium ranelate treatment in a phase III clinical trial.Arthritis research & therapy · 2015Trial
- Effects of intra-articular clodronate in the treatment of knee osteoarthritis: results of a double-blind, randomized placebo-controlled trial.Rheumatology international · 2015Trial
- Randomised, controlled trial of avocado-soybean unsaponifiable (Piascledine) effect on structure modification in hip osteoarthritis: the ERADIAS study.Annals of the rheumatic diseases · 2014Trial
- Repurposing Denosumab for Knee Osteoarthritis: A Real-World Signal That Now Needs a Trial.International journal of rheumatic diseases · 2026Article
- Osteoarthritis phenotypes: advancing precision medicine through clinical, structural, and molecular stratification.International orthopaedics · 2026Review
- Evaluating the utility of prognostic enrichment in clinical trials: Applications to clinical trial design in osteoarthritis.Osteoarthritis and cartilage · 2026Article
- The osteoarthritis inflammatory ecosystem: a node-edge-boundary-emergent framework toward precision stratification and therapeutic hypothesis generation.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Review
- The renin-angiotensin system (RAS) and arthritic diseases: therapeutic potential for RAS inhibitors.Inflammopharmacology · 2025Review
54 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
13 authors at 12 institutions in 10 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundStrontium ranelate is currently used for osteoporosis. The international, double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled Strontium ranelate Efficacy in Knee OsteoarthrItis triAl evaluated its effect on radiological progression of knee osteoarthritis.
methodsPatients with knee osteoarthritis (Kellgren and Lawrence grade 2 or 3, and joint space width (JSW) 2.5-5 mm) were randomly allocated to strontium ranelate 1 g/day (n=558), 2 g/day (n=566) or placebo (n=559). The primary endpoint was radiographical change in JSW (medial tibiofemoral compartment) over 3 years versus placebo. Secondary endpoints included radiological progression, Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) score, and knee pain. The trial is registered (ISRCTN41323372).
resultsThe intention-to-treat population included 1371 patients. Treatment with strontium ranelate was associated with smaller degradations in JSW than placebo (1 g/day: -0.23 (SD 0.56) mm; 2 g/day: -0.27 (SD 0.63) mm; placebo: -0.37 (SD 0.59) mm); treatment-placebo differences were 0.14 (SE 0.04), 95% CI 0.05 to 0.23, p<0.001 for 1 g/day and 0.10 (SE 0.04), 95% CI 0.02 to 0.19, p=0.018 for 2 g/day. Fewer radiological progressors were observed with strontium ranelate (p<0.001 and p=0.012 for 1 and 2 g/day). There were greater reductions in total WOMAC score (p=0.045), pain subscore (p=0.028), physical function subscore (p=0.099) and knee pain (p=0.065) with strontium ranelate 2 g/day. Strontium ranelate was well tolerated.
conclusionsTreatment with strontium ranelate 1 and 2 g/day is associated with a significant effect on structure in patients with knee osteoarthritis, and a beneficial effect on symptoms for strontium ranelate 2 g/day.
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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.