Implantable shock absorber reduced pain, improved function for patients with knee OA
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An implantable shock absorber provided pain relief, improved function and faster recovery at 2 years compared with high tibial osteotomy for patients with medial knee osteoarthritis, according to published results.
David R. Diduch, MD, and colleagues performed a prospective open-label study that compared outcomes of an implantable shock absorber (ISA, Moximed Inc.) and high tibial osteotomy (HTO) for patients with mild to moderate medial knee OA.
According to the study, the ISA was placed subcutaneously, outside the joint capsule and superficial to the medial collateral ligament during an outpatient procedure. Both cohorts enrolled 81 patients. Outcome measures were assessed at 2 years and included WOMAC scores for pain and function, implant integrity, complications and reoperations.
Researchers found 85.6% of the ISA cohort and 65.5% of the HTO cohort met the clinical composite primary endpoint. At 2-year follow-up, patients in the ISA cohort had a mean pain rating of 14.2, a 76% improvement, while patients in the HTO cohort had a mean pain rating of 19.9, a 64.7% improvement. Similarly, patients in the ISA cohort had a mean function rating of 15.4, a 73.6% improvement, while patients in the HTO cohort had a mean function rating of 20.1, a 58.7% improvement, at 2 years.
Diduch and colleagues noted the ISA cohort saw a significantly faster recovery to full weight-bearing status (13.4 days) compared with the HTO cohort (58 days). They also noted no complications were observed during removal of the ISA or HTO hardware.
“The ISA offers a treatment option for medial [knee] OA patients who are not candidates for arthroplasty and have failed to gain symptom relief with conservative treatments,” the researchers wrote in the study.
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