Riassunto dello studio

14 randomized controlled trials with a total of 2796 knee osteoarthritis patients were included in this network meta-analysis comparing high molecular weight hyaluronic acid injection, low molecular weight hyaluronic acid injection, intra-articular corticosteroid injection, other FDA-approved conservative therapies, and intra-articular placebo injection. The outcome of interest was pooled pain scores, with minimal clinically important differences derived from previous literature and the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) guidelines. Results of the meta-analysis found that high molecular weight hyaluronic acid injection was the highest ranked treatment, providing significantly greater pain relief vs. placebo injection that was possibly clinically significant. No other significant differences were found in all other comparisons in the network meta-analysis.