TUESDAY, June 25, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- Recommendations have been developed for management of osteoarthritis (OA) of the hand, hip, and knee, according to the 2019 American College of Rheumatology (ACR)/Arthritis Foundation Guideline published in the February 2020 issue of Arthritis & Rheumatology.

Sharon L. Kolasinski, M.D., from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in Philadelphia, and colleagues developed an evidence-based guideline for the comprehensive management of OA, updating the 2012 ACR recommendations. Strong or conditional recommendations were made for or against the approaches evaluated based on the available evidence.

The researchers made strong recommendations for exercise, weight loss for patients with overweight and obesity and knee and/or hip OA, self-efficacy and self-management programs, tai chi, cane use, hand orthoses for first carpometacarpal (CMC) joint OA, tibiofemoral bracing for tibiofemoral knee OA, topical nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and intra-articular glucocorticoid injections for knee OA, and oral NSAIDs. Balance exercises, yoga, cognitive behavioral therapy, acupuncture, thermal modalities, kinesiotaping for first CMC OA, orthoses for hand joints other than the first CMC joint, patellofemoral bracing for patellofemoral knee OA, radiofrequency ablation and topical capsaicin for knee OA, topical NSAIDs, intra-articular steroid injections and chondroitin sulfate for hand OA, and acetaminophen, duloxetine, and tramadol were conditionally recommended.

"Optimal management requires a comprehensive, multimodal approach to treating patients with hand, hip, and/or knee OA offered in the context of shared decision-making with patients, to choose the safest and most effective treatment possible," the authors wrote.

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