Although total knee replacement (TKR) surgery can improve pain and function in individuals with knee osteoarthritis (OA), many patients who are sedentary before undergoing TKR don’t increase their physical activity levels after surgery. A new study led by Elena Losina, PhD, of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, examined…
(Reuters Health)—Obese people with knee osteoarthritis (OA) may find greater symptom relief when they lose larger amounts of weight, a recent study suggests. Researchers examined data on 240 obese adults with pain from knee OA who were participating in an 18-month experiment to see how diet alone or diet plus exercise affected their health. Participants…
According to new research, knee OA patients reported greater pain relief from intra-articular corticosteroids, but naproxen was more effective at improving function…
A patient’s gait, or how they walk, is an important predictor of the biomechanical load distribution that affects osteoarthritis (OA). This understanding comes from a growing body of literature in biomechanics to test and treat patients with OA, which takes into account a very practical treatment: a patient’s shoes. A focus on flexible footwear, along…
Studying the way patients with knee osteoarthritis walk and changes to footwear are helping patients under the care of Najia Shakoor, MD, and colleagues take control of their pain and possibly delay disease progression…
A recent study compared the efficacy of opioids with nonopioid pain treatments in patients with chronic back pain and hip or knee osteoarthritis. After 12 months, researchers found that treatment with opioids was not superior to treatment with nonopioid medication, with only minor differences in patients’ functional responses to the medications…
On Nov. 4, a 55-year-old female patient presents to the office for a follow-up visit for injection of the left knee for osteoarthritis. This is her third of three injections that were preauthorized through Oct. 31. She reports pain and swelling in her left knee and rates the pain at an 8 on a 10-point…
(Reuters Health)—Acetaminophen, ibuprofen and other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are better than opioids at easing the intensity of chronic pain in the back, knees or hips, a U.S. experiment suggests. And opioids are no better than these other drugs at reducing how much pain interferes with daily activities, such as walking, working, sleeping or enjoying…
(Reuters Health)—Black people with knee osteoarthritis may have a worse quality of life than white patients in part because they’re less likely to be offered knee replacement surgery or to get the procedure when it’s recommended, a U.S. study suggests. Knee replacement surgery has the potential to greatly relieve suffering from severe joint pain that…
With the aid of increasingly sophisticated neuroimaging technology, research into how the brain activates and changes in patients with chronic pain is delivering fascinating information that will hopefully pave the way to tailored, individual treatment of chronic pain. Over the past several years, data from neuroimaging studies have provided a new understanding of what occurs…