Novelties in the treatment of osteoarthritis

Abstract

Goal of osteoarthritis (OA) treatment is to relieve the pain and to reduce the loss of patient's physical functionality. Therapy consists of: nonpharmacological measures, pharmacotherapy and surgery. Although nonpharmacological approach represents a basis of OA treatment, pharmacotherapy is an important adjunct. Medications that are used in this disease can be administered orally, topically or intra-articularly. In OA treatment the following medications are used: analgesics, glucosamine- and chondroitin-based preparations, glucocorticoids and hyaluronic acid (intra-articular administration) and other medications. Nonopioid analgesics represent a corner stone in OA pharmacotherapy. Treatment initiation with paracetamol (acetaminophen) and/or topical nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) is recommended. Afterwards, in a case of complete or partial treatment failure, oral traditional NSAID (tNSAID) or selective COX-2 inhibitor should be used, or opioids as a substitute or an adjunct. Glucosamine- and chondroitin-based preparations are not recommended for OA treatment. Intra-articular use of glucocorticoid (triamcinolon) can lead to short lasting removal of pain and inflammation, while intra-articular use of hyaluronic acid is not recommended. Surgical treatment is important for heavy joint damage and in the case of failure of other treatment modalities.

Cilj lečenja osteoartritisa (OA) je ublažiti bol i smanjiti gubitak fizičke funkcionalnosti pacijenta. Terapija se sastoji od: nefarmakoloških mera, farmakoterapije i hirurgije. Mada nefarmakološki pristup predstavlja osnovu lečenja OA, farmakoterapija je važan dodatak lečenju. Lekovi koji se primenjuju u ovoj bolesti mogu se davati per os, topikalno ili intraartikularno. U lečenju OA koriste se sledeći lekovi: analgetici, preparati na bazi glukozamina i hondroitina, glukokortikoidi i hijaluronska kiselina (intraartikularna primena) i ostali lekovi. Kamen temeljac u farmakoterapiji OA čine neopioidni analgetici. Preporučuje se otpočinjanje terapije paracetamolom i/ili topikalnim nesteroidnim antiinflamatornim lekom (NSAIL), nakon čega u slučaju potpunog ili delimičnog neuspeha treba primeniti oralne tradicionalne NSAIL/selektivne inhibitore ciklooksigenaze 2, ili opioide kao zamenu ili dodatak terapiji. Preparati na bazi glukozamina i hondroitina se ne preporučuju za lečenje OA. Intraartikularna primena glukokortikoida (triamcinolon) može da dovede do kratkotrajnog otklanjanja bola i inflamacije, dok se intraartikularna primena hijaluronske kiseline ne preporučuje. Hirurško lečenje je važno kod teških oštećenja zglobova u OA i neuspeha ostalih oblika lečenja.