Intra-Articular Viscosupplementation for Patients with Hip Osteoarthritis: A Meta-Analysis and Systematic Review

The authors performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of five randomized controlled trials, all of which compared intra-articular viscosupplementation to placebo for patients with hip osteoarthritis. They had a total sample size of 591 patients followed at 3 different time points: 7-14 days, 28-30 days, and final follow-up. Outcomes included pain (Numeric Rating Scale, Visual Analogue Scale, and Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) Pain score) and function (WOMAC Function and Lequesne). Though some studies found significant benefit in favour of hyaluronic acid (HA), the pooled analysis found no significant difference between HA and placebo groups for pain or function at any timepoint.