Trial reportOsteoarthritis and cartilage2018
Lack of beneficial effects of low-dose radiation therapy on hand osteoarthritis symptoms and inflammation: a randomised, blinded, sham-controlled trial.
Trial report in Osteoarthritis and cartilage, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04424628 (Three vs Six Gy in Gonarthrosis and Coxarthrosis. Non Inferiority Study), which is not on this map. Cited by 35 papers, 3 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.
Three vs Six Gy in Gonarthrosis and Coxarthrosis. Non Inferiority Study
Who cites it
35 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 61 citations in OpenAlex.
- Efficacy, safety, and pain management of low-dose radiation therapy in osteoarthritis: a comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis.Rheumatology international · 2025Pooled it
- Comparative effectiveness of kilo- and megavoltage energies in low-dose radiotherapy for painful degenerative musculoskeletal diseases: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Strahlentherapie und Onkologie : Organ der Deutschen Rontgengesellschaft ... [et al] · 2025Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Effect of heated mittens on physical hand function in people with hand osteoarthritis: randomised controlled trial.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2024Trial
- ArthroRad trial: multicentric prospective and randomized single-blinded trial on the effect of low-dose radiotherapy for painful osteoarthritis depending on the dose-results after 3 months' follow-up.Strahlentherapie und Onkologie : Organ der Deutschen Rontgengesellschaft ... [et al] · 2022Trial
- Low-Dose Radiotherapy Leads to a Systemic Anti-Inflammatory Shift in the Pre-Clinical K/BxN Serum Transfer Model and Reduces Osteoarthritic Pain in Patients.Frontiers in immunology · 2021Trial
- Low-Dose Radiation Therapy for Osteoarthritis: Analysis of Preliminary Outcomes at Scripps Clinic.Advances in radiation oncology · 2026Article
- Low-Dose Radiation Therapy (LDRT) for Osteoarthritis: A Retrospective Study of 94 Patients and 136 Joints Treated.Advances in radiation oncology · 2026Article
- Article
- KORT - Knee osteoarthrosis radiotherapy trial: Protocol for a multidisciplinary pathway and a planned sham-controlled phase III trial of low-dose radiotherapy in knee osteoarthritis.Osteoarthritis and cartilage open · 2026Article
- Radiation Decreases Bone Density while Diabetes Increases Osteoarthritis in Non-Human Primates.Radiation research · 2025Article
- Implementing a low-dose radiation therapy program for musculoskeletal pain disorders: tips, tricks, and essentials for clinical researchers.Clinical & translational oncology : official publication of the Federation of Spanish Oncology Societies and of the National Cancer Institute of Mexico · 2025Review
- Cell-integrated serum-induced signalling patterns can differentiate between hand and knee osteoarthritis patients.Rheumatology (Oxford, England) · 2025Article
- Radiotherapy for painful shoulder syndrome: a retrospective evaluation.Strahlentherapie und Onkologie : Organ der Deutschen Rontgengesellschaft ... [et al] · 2025Article
- From essential basic understanding to clinical application - biological, physical and pathophysiological principles of (low-dose) radiotherapy in benign diseases.Frontiers in immunology · 2025Review
- Low-dose Radiation Therapy (LDRT) in Managing Osteoarthritis: A Comprehensive Review.Current therapeutic research, clinical and experimental · 2025Review
- Radiotherapy for benign diseases in Turkey: a patterns of care survey of the Turkish Society for Radiation Oncology (TROD 05-002).Strahlentherapie und Onkologie : Organ der Deutschen Rontgengesellschaft ... [et al] · 2024Article
- Low-dose radiotherapy of osteoarthritis: from biological findings to clinical effects-challenges for future studies.Strahlentherapie und Onkologie : Organ der Deutschen Rontgengesellschaft ... [et al] · 2023Review
- Review
- Low-dose RaDiation therapy for patients with KNee osteoArthritis (LoRD-KNeA): a protocol for a sham-controlled randomised trial.BMJ open · 2023Article
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesLow-dose radiation therapy (LDRT) is widely used as treatment for osteoarthritis (OA) in some countries, while relatively unknown in others. Systematic literature review displayed a lack of high-level evidence for beneficial effects in clinical practice. The aim was to assess the efficacy of LDRT on symptoms and inflammation in hand OA patients in a randomised, blinded, sham-controlled trial, using validated outcome measures.
designHand OA patients, ≥50 years, with pain ≥5 (scale 0-10) and non-responding to conservative therapy were included and randomised 1:1 to receive LDRT (6 × 1 Gy in 2 weeks) or sham (6 × 0 Gy in 2 weeks). Primary outcome was the proportion of OMERACT-OARSI responders, 3 months post-intervention. Secondary outcomes were pain and functioning (Australian/Canadian Hand Osteoarthritis Index; AUSCAN), quality of life (Short Form Health Survey; SF36) and inflammatory outcomes: erythrocyte sedimentation rate and C-reactive protein serum levels, effusion, synovial thickening and power Doppler signal on ultrasound (range 0-3).
resultsFifty-six patients were included. After 3 months, no significant difference in responders was observed between groups (LDRT: 8 (29%); sham: 10 (36%); difference -7% (95%CI -31-17%)). Also, differences in clinical and inflammatory outcomes between groups were small and not significant.
conclusionsWe were unable to demonstrate a substantial beneficial effect of LDRT on symptoms and inflammation in patients with hand OA, compared to sham treatment. Although a small effect can not be excluded, a treatment effect exceeding 20% is very unlikely, given the confidence interval. Therefore, in the absence of other high-level evidence, we advise against the use LDRT as treatment for patients with hand OA. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NTR4574 (Dutch Trial Register).
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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.