Osteoarthritis

A New Zealand study announced in Trials will examine whether the antidepressant nortriptyline can safely and effectively treat knee osteoarthritis. The medication is inexpensive and readily available, and it is well-tolerated in patients treated for depression.

The US Food and Drug Administration has approved meloxicam (Vivlodex/ Iroko Pharmaceuticals, LLC), a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), for the treatment of osteoarthritis pain.

Study results suggest that maintaining proper weight is not just associated with better disease outcomes but also less pain in patients with knee osteoarthritis.

Ultrasound and fluorescence optical imaging can detect inflammation in hand joints of rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis patients.

The field of rheumatology is largely the same whether it is in the civilian or military world. Differences can be seen in the cause of some of these conditions as well as the treatment options pursued by doctors.

A study in BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders suggests that multinucleated giant cells (MGC) may contribute to osteoarthritis (OA) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in addition to their known association with synovitis severity. The finding adds to other recent research and points to the therapeutic potential of targeting MGCs to improve pain and joint damage in both types of arthritis.

The first study of its kind examined joint replacement surgery in patients with osteoarthritis and confirmed an increased risk of cardiovascular complications.

Combo therapy alleviates osteoarthritis knee pain enough to resume disease modifying exercise therapy.

The number of opioid-related deaths nearly quadrupled from 1999 to 2011 in the US; and while that number continues to increase, one state has made positive strides with the implementation of two initiatives.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the prescription of OxyContin, an extended-release opioid, for particular pediatric patients.

For patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA), balneotherapy (mineral baths) combined with physical therapy may be more effective than physical therapy alone.

As the population ages and medicine continues to advance, people are living longer and healthier; but they are also taking more medications for more medical conditions. Those medications can cause drug-drug interactions that lead to adverse drug reactions (ADR). Studies have shown that the majority of medication errors happen at the stage of prescription.

Up to one-third of people with active ankylosing spondylitis (AS) have some degree of bone loss due to systemic inflammation and decreased mobility, but lowering inflammation with tumor necrosis factor blockers may improve bone density.

When severe joint damage is present, total knee arthroplasty (TKA) surgery may be the best approach to regain comfort and function. Researchers analyzed procedure outcomes in two groups of patients.

A review and meta-analysis of 149 randomized clinical trials of adults with knee osteoarthritis, shows that some placebos can trigger clinically relevant responses.

A new gait training device has been shown to significantly improve clinical symptoms in obese patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA).

Both chronic pain conditions and obesity are major and increasing public health concerns, and the connections between the two have been firmly established in the medical literature. But as the prevalence of obesity worldwide continues to grow, a deeper understanding of this connection could potentially benefit both practitioners and patients.

A widely accessible medication commonly used to treat psychiatric disorders may also inhibit the damaging effects of osteoarthritis.

For the first time, disease-specific genetic changes have been connected with rheumatoid arthritis.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a crippling condition with the majority of cases taking place in the knee – but what's the best form of treatment?

With 259 million painkiller prescriptions written in 2012 alone, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), one of the most common side effects experienced by patients being treated for chronic pain is opioid-induced constipation (OIC).

Knee osteoarthritis (OA) sufferers experience more than just pain and changes to their cartilage, bone, ligaments, and muscles in the surrounding area. They also often experience changes in the sensory and motor function of the knee.

As more is learned about the potential benefits of stem cells, a recent study looked at whether patients with osteoarthritis could benefit from the treatment.

NEJM weighs weak evidence of benefit against small risk of viscosupplementation for osteoarthritic knees and recommends against it.

This systemic review and meta-analysis found no significant benefit to arthroscopic knee surgery. An editorialist asks, “In light of this evidence, why is arthroscopy still so common?”

A rheumatologist picks 5 studies he found particularly noteworthy at EULAR and gets right to the point about their potential clinical implications.

Spend any appreciable time on PubMed, Medline, or Embase, and you can begin to think that there aren't many untapped areas of clinical exploration. Nothing could be further from the truth, of course, and a recent clinical review in Arthritis Research and Therapy outlines some of the uncharted territory even in a condition as prevalent as osteoarthritis of the knee.

A medication commonly prescribed to relieve the painful symptoms of multiple types of arthritis has been found to be ineffective in treating pain associated with one particular form of the disease.

This two-part video demonstrates how to use ultrasound to guide viscosupplementation or steroid injection of the arthritic knee, interspersed with the corresponding ultrasound images.

In addition to causing potential damage to the joints, cartilage, ligaments, and bones, osteoarthritis (OA) can lead to sleep disturbances that in turn affect a patient's quality of life.