Extracorporeal shock wave therapy versus intra-articular injection of sodium hyaluronate for knee osteoarthritis / 中国组织工程研究

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Intra-articular injection of sodium hyaluronate can safely and effectively treat knee osteoarthritis and obviously improves the pain and function of knee joint. The efficacy of extracorporeal shock wave therapy for early-and middle-term knee osteoarthritis still remains controversial. OBJECTIVE: To compare the effects of extracorporeal shock wave therapy and intra-articular injection of sodium hyaluronate for early-and middle-term knee osteoarthritis. METHODS: According to the inclusion criteria, a total of 77 patients with knee osteoarthritis were enrolled, and randomly divided into extracorporeal shock wave therapy group and sodium hyaluronate therapy group. The extracorporeal shock wave therapy group underwent 5 sessions of 2 000 shockwave pulses performed on the affected knee with the dosage adjusted to 0.2 mJ/mm2 energy. The sodium hyaluronate group was administered intra-articularly sodium hyaluronate once per week for 5 weeks. The results were assessed with the Visual Analogue Scale, Lequesne index and Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:① After 5 weeks of treatment, the Visual Analogue Scale, Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index and Lequesne index in the two groups were significantly decreased compared with the baseline (P ＜ 0.05). All above indexes in the extracorporeal shock wave therapy group were significantly lower than those in the sodium hyaluronate therapy group (P ＜ 0.05).② These results indicate that the extracorporeal shock wave therapy and sodium hyaluronate therapy are effective for early-and middle-term knee osteoarthritis, and the former is more significant.