Osteoarthritis and Bone Disorders News

Fluctuating and persistent knee pain over 1 year predicts accelerated cartilage loss as well as an increased risk for incident and progressive radiographic osteoarthritis, according to data published in Arthritis Research & Therapy.

A blocker consisting of locked nucleic acid antisense oligonucleotides, targeting the biomarker microRNA-181a-5p, is successful in protecting cartilage in spine and knee osteoarthritis, according to data published in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.

Patients with varus knee osteoarthritis who received a mesenchymal stem cell injection when undergoing high tibial osteotomy experienced improved clinical outcomes compared with patients who did not receive mesenchymal stem cell injections, according to published results.

CHICAGO — Hispanic patients with osteoarthritis were less likely than non-Hispanic white patients to believe that prescription NSAIDs could help or harm them, according to research presented at the ACR/ARHP 2018 Annual Meeting.

Factors influencing the limited use of core clinical practice guideline recommendations for knee osteoarthritis among general practitioners include knowledge gaps, low confidence and skill deficiencies, time and other constraints, the practitioner’s own perceived role and assumptions regarding patients and their habits, according to data published BMC Rheumatology.

A 75-year-old woman presents today for a preoperative evaluation prior to a left total knee replacement. She is a thin, otherwise healthy, white woman with no significant medical history aside from hypertension managed by a low-dose diuretic, diet and exercise. She does note in passing that she has gotten shorter over the years. She entered early menopause at the age of 40 years due to a total hysterectomy and was not treated with hormone replacement therapy. She does not drink or smoke. Her mother died at age 90 years, 8 months after surgery for a broken hip. You ask the patient if she has ever had a bone density test, or DXA scan, and she states that she has not.

Researchers have identified four pain susceptibility phenotypes among patients with or at risk for knee osteoarthritis, according to findings published in Arthritis & Rheumatology.

CHICAGO — A recent study showed that tanezumab was well-tolerated and superior to placebo in patients with osteoarthritis.

Femoral neck bone mineral density can predict knee and hip radiographic osteoarthritis, and vertebral fractures are a risk factor for hand radiographic osteoarthritis, according to data published in Arthritis & Rheumatology.

CHICAGO — More than 60% of older patients with moderate-to-severe hip or knee arthritis used opioids before undergoing total joint replacement surgery, according to recent data.