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Exercise and Steroid in Knee Osteoarthritis

Not Applicable
Completed
Conditions
Knee Osteoarthritis
Interventions
Drug: Intraarticular steroid
Drug: Intraarticular saline
Other: Exercise therapy
Registration Number
NCT01945749
Lead Sponsor
Frederiksberg University Hospital
Brief Summary

Osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee is a very common chronic joint disorder associated pain and disability. As no cure exists, management aims to reduce pain, improve function, and enhance quality of life. The recommended hierarchy of management should consist of exercise in first line, then the add-on of drugs if necessary, and ultimately, if necessary, surgery.

The effect size of exercise therapy is of the same magnitude as most pharmacological treatments but is often without adverse effects. Local pharmacological treatment of the afflicted knee joint is recommended by means of intra-articular injections of corticosteroids, which is considered as a standard medical treatment of knee OA and are included in established guidelines for management of knee OA. While the two treatment approaches have been investigated separately in numerous clinical trials, the efficacy of a combined pharmacological and non-pharmacological approach is not known, despite the high rank of such combined treatment approach on the recommended hierarchy of management.

The purpose of this study is to assess the effects of exercise therapy in combination with intra-articular corticosteroid injections on patient reported pain and function in patients with knee OA.

The hypothesis is that the combined treatment approach (exercise therapy preceded by intra-articular injection of corticosteroid) enhances the clinical outcome compared to exercise therapy preceded by a placebo injection.

Detailed Description

Not available

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
COMPLETED
Sex
All
Target Recruitment
100
Inclusion Criteria
  • age 40 years or above
  • clinical knee osteoarthritis verified by radiography
  • pain during level walking of at least 40 mm on a 0-100 mm visual analog scale
  • clinical signs of local inflammation
  • body mass index between 20 and 35
Exclusion Criteria
  • Exercise therapy within 3 months
  • Intraarticular corticosteroid within 3 months
  • Counter indications to exercise
  • Counter indications to corticosteroid
  • pregnant or breast feeding
  • Auto immune disease
  • Planned surgery in the study period
  • significant cardiovascular disease
  • significant neuroloigal disease
  • significant psychiatric disease
  • regional pain syndromes (e.g. fibromyalgia)
  • spinal nerve root compression syndromes

Study & Design

Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Study Design
PARALLEL
Arm && Interventions
GroupInterventionDescription
Intraarticular steroid + ExerciseIntraarticular steroidIntra-articular corticosteroid treatment with subsequent exercise therapy. Exercise therapy is commenced 2 weeks after injection
Intraarticular steroid + ExerciseExercise therapyIntra-articular corticosteroid treatment with subsequent exercise therapy. Exercise therapy is commenced 2 weeks after injection
Intraarticular saline+ExerciseIntraarticular salineCombined intra-articular saline injection and subsequent exercise therapy. Exercise therapy is commenced 2 weeks after injection
Intraarticular saline+ExerciseExercise therapyCombined intra-articular saline injection and subsequent exercise therapy. Exercise therapy is commenced 2 weeks after injection
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Knee painChange from baseline to week 14

Self-reported pain assessed by the pain subdomain in the Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) questionnaire

Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Knee painChange from baseline to week 2 and week 26

Self-reported pain assessed by the pain subdomain in the Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) questionnaire

Knee symptomsChange from baseline to week 2, 14, and 26

Self-reported knee symptoms, knee related function, quality of life and, function during sports and recreation assessed by the pain subdomain in the Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) questionnaire

Functional pain testChange from baseline to week 14, and 26

Knee OA pain is associated with movement of the afflicted knee. Therefore we assess pain intensity and movement tolerance during repeated squatting. The test has 3 outcomes: 1) The number of pain free squatting movements that can be done in 30 seconds; 2) the number of painful squatting movements that can be done in 30 seconds; and 3) the average pain intensity during the squatting movements assessed on a 0-10 numeric rating scale.

Knee Muscle strengthChange from baseline to week 14, and 26

Assessed by an isokinetic dynamometer

6 minute walk distanceChange from baseline to week 14, and 26

The distance covered during 6 minutes of fast walking

Systemic markers of inflammation in bloodChange from baseline to week 14, and 26

Blood sample

MRI based inflammationChange from baseline to week 14, and 26

To assess the severity and extent of local inflammation in the knee and surrounding tissues magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are done before and after intravenous injection of a Gadolinium contrast agent. Contrast agents are only administered to participants with normal kidney function assessed from a standard blood sample

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

The Parker Institute, Frederiksberg Hospital

🇩🇰

Copenhagen, Denmark

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