Viscosupplementation for Management of Knee Osteoarthritis from an Indian Perspective: An Expert Consensus Report

Introduction: Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is a progressive degenerative condition and is a significant contributor toward physical disability in the aging population. The current treatment modalities for this condition focus on joint preservation with alleviation of symptoms. Intra-articular hyaluronic acid (IAHA) injections have emerged as the promising mainstay of nonsurgical treatment of OA, especially in patients with mild-to-moderate OA and in certain subgroups of severe OA with comorbidities or with poor response to first-line therapy. The absence of standard guidelines or recommendations for the use of IAHA in India has led to vast variations in the usage of IAHA among practitioners. Hence, this consensus-based document aims to address the issue and establish simplified and easily implemented recommendations on the use of IAHA. Methods: A group of 78 expert orthopedic surgeons discussed in detail the evidence on appropriate criteria for diagnosis, patient selection, and follow-up evaluation for knee OA at two national meetings. In subsequently held regional meetings, key discussion points and clinical experience-based answers were translated into a questionnaire to develop the final expert consensus-based statements for the use of IAHA in patients with knee OA. Results: Various consensus statements were obtained on the basis of scientific evidence obtained from PubMed, Cochrane-indexed database, and guidelines related to viscosupplementation and knee OA as well as the experts’ clinical experience. This document was drafted, reviewed, validated, and modified by the expert panel until a final agreement was reached. Conclusion: In this pioneering attempt, the document lays down structured, expert consensus-based statements to guide and align practitioners on the appropriate use of IAHA in the Indian setting. Funding: Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd.