Patient survey on the outcome following Synvisc [registered sign] joint injection. a comparative study of one and three injections .

ABSTRACT

Conservative management of osteoarthritis includes analgesia, modifications of activities, weight reduction and cartilage nourishment drugs. The latter has become popular as it aims at stopping the process of arthritis and improving the cartilage regeneration. In the current study, we compare two types of injectable cartilage nourishment medications. In this retrospective study, 30 patients with osteoarthritis of the knee, who received Hyalgen, were included in this study. There were two groups, in group one, 2 ml of injection was given on weekly basis for a period of 3 weeks, in the second group, 6 ml of Synvisc [registered sign] was given, only once. An outcome feedback was obtained by the junior doctor who filled in a questionnaire over the telephone. The 3 injections give pain relief for a longer period [mean 3.25 months as compared to 1.7 months]. More often patients respond to 3 injections as compared to one injection [14 as compared 11]. We suggest the use of three 2ml injection despite the fact that, using one injection is cheaper