ArticleRMD open2018
Efficacy and safety of non-pharmacological, pharmacological and surgical treatment for hand osteoarthritis: a systematic literature review informing the 2018 update of the EULAR recommendations for the management of hand osteoarthritis.
Article in RMD open, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 37 papers, 6 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
37 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 100 citations in OpenAlex.
- The short-term efficacy of heat therapy for osteoarthritis of the hands: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of rehabilitation medicine · 2026Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Efficacy of corticosteroids for hand osteoarthritis - a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2022Pooled it
- Efficacy and safety of hydroxychloroquine in osteoarthritis: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.The Korean journal of internal medicine · 2022Pooled it
- Efficacy of conservative treatments for hand osteoarthritis : An umbrella review of interventional studies.Wiener klinische Wochenschrift · 2021Pooled it
- Efficacy and safety of curcumin in patients with hand osteoarthritis: a pilot double-blinded randomised controlled trial.BMC complementary medicine and therapies · 2025Trial
- Effect of 6-week treatment with topical betamethasone dipropionate in patients with symptomatic hand osteoarthritis: A randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.Osteoarthritis and cartilage open · 2023Trial
- The effects of a mobile app-delivered intervention in people with symptomatic hand osteoarthritis: a pragmatic randomized controlled trial.European journal of physical and rehabilitation medicine · 2023Trial
- Non-pharmacological treatment gap preceding surgical consultation in thumb carpometacarpal osteoarthritis - a cross-sectional study.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2019Trial
- Trial
- Hand Osteoarthritis: Molecular Mechanisms, Randomized Controlled Trials, and the Future of Targeted Treatment.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Comparison of Surgical Techniques and Joint Injections for Base of Thumb Osteoarthritis: A Systematic Review.Journal of hand surgery global online · 2025Article
- Evaluation of an e-self-management intervention (Happy Hands app) for hand osteoarthritis: Study protocol for a multicentre randomised controlled trial.Rheumatology international · 2025Article
- Optimization and Validation of an Ultra-Performance Liquid Chromatography with Quadrupole Detector Mass Spectrometry Quantification Method for the Simultaneous Detection of Tazarotene and Tazarotenic Acid in Porcine Skin: An In Vitro Study.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Article
- Current and future advances in practice: practical management of hand osteoarthritis.Rheumatology advances in practice · 2025Review
- The Effect of Intra-Articular Injections of Hyaluronic Acid for the Treatment of Trapezio-Metacarpal Joint Osteoarthritis.Journal of personalized medicine · 2024Article
- Short-term clinical outcomes of transarterial embolization for symptomatic hand osteoarthritis refractory to conservative treatment.Diagnostic and interventional radiology (Ankara, Turkey) · 2024Article
- Relation of STAT3 rs1053005 Variation and miR-452-3p with Osteoarthritis Susceptibility and Severity and the Clinical Response to High-Molecular-Weight Hyaluronic Acid Injection in Osteoarthritis Patients.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Knee osteoarthritis: Current status and research progress in treatment (Review).Experimental and therapeutic medicine · 2023Review
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 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
To update the evidence on efficacy and safety of non-pharmacological, pharmacological and surgical interventions for hand osteoarthritis (OA), a systematic literature review was performed up to June 2017, including (randomised) controlled trials or Cochrane systematic reviews. Main efficacy outcomes were pain, function and hand strength. Risk of bias was assessed. Meta-analysis was performed when advisable. Of 7036 records, 127 references were included, of which 50 studies concerned non-pharmacological, 64 pharmacological and 12 surgical interventions. Many studies had high risk of bias, mainly due to inadequate randomisation or blinding. Beneficial non-pharmacological treatments included hand exercise and prolonged thumb base splinting, while single trials showed positive results for joint protection and using assistive devices. Topical and oral non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) proved equally effective, while topical NSAIDs led to less adverse events. Single trials demonstrated positive results for chondroitin sulfate and intra-articular glucocorticoid injections in interphalangeal joints. Pharmacological treatments for which no clear beneficial effect was shown include paracetamol, intra-articular thumb base injections of glucocorticoids or hyaluronic acid, low-dose oral glucocorticoids, hydroxychloroquine and anti-tumour necrosis factor. No trials compared surgery to sham or non-operative treatment. No surgical intervention for thumb base OA appeared more effective than another, although in general more complex procedures led to more complications. No interventions slowed radiographic progression. In conclusion, an overview of the evidence on efficacy and safety of treatment options for hand OA was presented and informed the task force for the updated European League Against Rheumatism management recommendations for hand OA.
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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.