Evidence map›Paper›PMID 26005358›Full record

ReviewJournal of pain research2015

Safety and efficacy of US-approved viscosupplements for knee osteoarthritis: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized, saline-controlled trials.

Vibeke Strand, Louis F McIntyre, William R Beach, Larry E Miller, Jon E Block

Registry-linked trialOpen access · goldAbstract readReview
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in Journal of pain research, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04061733 (New Hydroxyethyl Cellulose Hydrogel for the Treatment of the Pain of Knee Arthrosis), which is not on this map. Cited by 55 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
55citing papers in PubMed, 5 pooled it
12.1field-weighted citation impact, top 1% 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.

NCT04061733 naunknown statusnot on this mapstarted 2019, after this paper: background citation

New Hydroxyethyl Cellulose Hydrogel for the Treatment of the Pain of Knee Arthrosis

TypeinterventionalSponsorPromedonRan2019 to 2024Enrolled50ConditionsOsteoarthritis, Knee, PainArmsHydrogel injection
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

55 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 99 citations in OpenAlex.

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  18. Advances in hyaluronic acid hydrogel for meniscus repair.Frontiers in bioengineering and biotechnology · 2025
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Vibeke StrandStanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA, USA.
Louis F McIntyreNew York University Medical Center, White Plains, NY, USA.
William R BeachTuckahoe Orthopaedics, Richmond, VA, USA.
Larry E MillerMiller Scientific Consulting, Inc., Asheville, NC, USA ; The Jon Block Group, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Jon E BlockThe Jon Block Group, San Francisco, CA, USA.
New York University · USPalo Alto University · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundIntra-articular injection of hyaluronic acid is a common, yet controversial, therapeutic option for patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA). The purpose of this research was to determine the safety and efficacy of US-approved viscosupplements for symptomatic knee OA.

methodsWe searched MedLine and EMBase for randomized, sham-controlled trials evaluating safety and/or clinical efficacy of US-approved viscosupplements in patients with symptomatic knee OA. Knee pain severity and knee joint function were assessed at 4 to 13 weeks and 14 to 26 weeks. Safety outcomes included serious adverse events, treatment-related serious adverse events, patient withdrawal, and adverse event-related patient withdrawal occurring at any time during follow-up.

resultsA total of 29 studies representing 4,866 unique patients (active: 2,673, control: 2,193) were included. All sham-controlled trials used saline injections as a control. Viscosupplementation resulted in very large treatment effects between 4 and 26 weeks for knee pain and function compared to preinjection values, with standardized mean difference values ranging from 1.07 to 1.37 (all P<0.001). Compared to controls, standardized mean difference with viscosupplementation ranged from 0.38 to 0.43 for knee pain and 0.32 to 0.34 for knee function (all P<0.001). There were no statistically significant differences between viscosupplementation and controls for any safety outcome, with absolute risk differences of 0.7% (95% confidence interval [CI]: -0.2 to 1.5%) for serious adverse events, 0% (95% CI: -0.4 to 0.4%) for treatment-related serious adverse events, 0% (95% CI: -1.6 to 1.6%) for patient withdrawal, and 0.2% (95% CI: -0.4 to 0.8%) for adverse event-related patient withdrawal.

conclusionIntra-articular injection of US-approved viscosupplements is safe and efficacious through 26 weeks in patients with symptomatic knee OA.

Indexed as

hyaluronic acidintra-articularviscosupplementation

Identifiers

PMID26005358
PMCPMC4428363
OpenAlexW2104033333

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

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.