Abstract:

BACKGROUND: Hyaluronic acid or compound betamethasone for treatment of knee osteoarthritis can reduce inflammatory reactions in the joints, relieve pain, and protect the function of the knee joint.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the clinical efficacy of intra-articular injection of hyaluronic acid combined with compound betamethasone on middle-stage knee osteoarthritis as well as protective effect on joint function.

METHODS: A total of 100 patients with II, III knee osteoarthritis were randomly divided into two groups: intra-articular injection of hyaluronic acid (2 mL) as control group and intra-articular injection of hyaluronic acid    (2 mL) combined with compound betamethasone (1 mL) as testing group. The intra-articular injection was carried out once a week, totally for consecutive 5 weeks. Visual analog scale score, Lysholm knee joint score and erythrocyte sedimentation rate were compared between two groups before and after treatment.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: After treatment, the visual analog scale score, Lysholm knee joint score and erythrocyte sedimentation rate were improved significantly in the two groups as compared with those before treatment (P < 0.05); in addition, these parameters were all better in the testing group than the control group (P < 0.05). No systemic adverse reactions occurred in the two groups. These findings indicate that the intra-articular injection of hyaluronic acid combined with compound betamethasone can reduce inflammatory reactions, relieve  pain, and improve joint function.

中国组织工程研究杂志出版内容重点：组织构建；骨细胞；软骨细胞；细胞培养；成纤维细胞；血管内皮细胞；骨质疏松；组织工程

Key words: Hyaluronic Acid, Betamethasone, Osteoarthritis, Knee