Joint Injections for Osteoarthritic Knee Pain
![]() |
The safety and scientific validity of this study is the responsibility of the study sponsor and investigators. Listing a study does not mean it has been evaluated by the U.S. Federal Government. Read our disclaimer for details. |
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00085722 |
Recruitment Status :
Completed
First Posted : June 16, 2004
Last Update Posted : February 15, 2019
|
- Study Details
- Tabular View
- No Results Posted
- Disclaimer
- How to Read a Study Record
Condition or disease | Intervention/treatment | Phase |
---|---|---|
Osteoarthritis | Procedure: Dextrose Prolotherapy Procedure: Saline Prolotherapy Other: At-home physical therapy exercise group | Phase 1 Phase 2 |
OA is a common, debilitating condition for which there is no cure and no known cause. Prolotherapy (PrT) is an injection-based therapy for chronic musculoskeletal pain in which an irritant solution is injected at painful ligaments and tendons to produce stronger connective tissue and decrease pain. Although limited studies suggest PrT is effective may be effective for low back pain, its use has not been rigorously studied in human clinical trials for osteoarthritis.
Participants in this study will be randomly assigned to receive one of three treatments: standard PrT, injections with a saline placebo, or a pamphlet with recommendations for home knee physical therapy. Injections will be given at Weeks 1, 5, and 9; injection group subjects will have the option to receive an additional 2 sets of injections. All participants will be assessed for a total of 1 year. A set of disease-specific and general quality-of-life questionnaires will be used to assess participants' outcomes . A randomized subset of participants (N=38)will receive magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)of the knee at baseline and 52 weeks. At study completion, participants who did not receive PrT will have the option to receive up to five sessions of PrT at no cost. Data will be collected for this group (minus MRI) and will be analyzed separately. Enrollment is limited to residents of Southern Wisconsin.
Study Type : | Interventional (Clinical Trial) |
Actual Enrollment : | 98 participants |
Allocation: | Randomized |
Intervention Model: | Parallel Assignment |
Masking: | Quadruple (Participant, Care Provider, Investigator, Outcomes Assessor) |
Primary Purpose: | Treatment |
Official Title: | The Efficacy of Prolotherapy in Osteoarthritic Knee Pain |
Study Start Date : | July 2004 |
Actual Primary Completion Date : | November 1, 2008 |
Actual Study Completion Date : | May 1, 2016 |

Arm | Intervention/treatment |
---|---|
Experimental: Dextrose
Subjects in Group 1 receive PrT with 15% and 25% dextrose solution, as it is generally practiced in the US today.
|
Procedure: Dextrose Prolotherapy
Injection procedure: 50% dextrose is diluted with .9% 'normal' saline and 1% lidocaine to achieve 15% dextrose for ligament injections and 25% dextrose for intra-articular injection.
Other Name: Dextrose |
Placebo Comparator: Normal saline
Subjects in Group 2 will receive the same treatment as Group 1, except that a 0.9% 'normal' saline solution with no known benefit will be used instead of dextrose.
|
Procedure: Saline Prolotherapy
7 mL 9% 'normal' saline and 3mL 1% lidocaine
Other Name: Saline |
Exercise
At-home physical therapy exercises as a non-injection control
|
Other: At-home physical therapy exercise group
Subjects in the at-home physical therapy exercise group will receive a patient information pamphlet about knee osteoarthritis and conservative care instructions for standard at-home physical therapy exercises
Other Name: Exercise |
- Quality of life, pain scores and disability at wks 0, 5, 9, 12, 24, 52 [ Time Frame: Participants will be followed for one year. ]
- Secondary outcomes include disease and general quality of life indicators (all subjects) and magnetic resonance image (in a subset of 37 subjects). [ Time Frame: Participants will be monitored for one year. ]

Choosing to participate in a study is an important personal decision. Talk with your doctor and family members or friends about deciding to join a study. To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the contacts provided below. For general information, Learn About Clinical Studies.
Ages Eligible for Study: | 40 Years to 70 Years (Adult, Older Adult) |
Sexes Eligible for Study: | All |
Accepts Healthy Volunteers: | No |
Inclusion Criteria:
- Pain from knee osteoarthritis that has impacted life for 3 months to 10 years
- X-ray results indicating knee osteoarthritis
Exclusion Criteria:
- Knee osteoarthritis surgical candidate
- History of total knee joint repair
- Prior use of PrT
- Prior fracture of the knee joint
- Joint injection of steroids or other drugs within the past 3 months
- Rheumatoid or inflammatory arthritis
- Chronic use of narcotic medication
- Other chronic pain diagnoses
- diabetes mellitus
- Body mass index (BMI) greater than 45
- Unresolved litigation
- Pregnancy
- Co-morbidity that may interfere with the study

To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the contact information provided by the sponsor.
Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier (NCT number): NCT00085722
United States, Wisconsin | |
Northeast Family Medical Center | |
Madison, Wisconsin, United States, 53704 | |
University of Wisconsin General Clinical Research Center | |
Madison, Wisconsin, United States, 53792 |
Principal Investigator: | David P. Rabago, MD | University of Wisconsin Dept of Family Medicine |
Publications:
Publications automatically indexed to this study by ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier (NCT Number):
Responsible Party: | University of Wisconsin, Madison |
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: | NCT00085722 |
Other Study ID Numbers: |
H-2004-0112 K23AT001879-01 ( U.S. NIH Grant/Contract ) |
First Posted: | June 16, 2004 Key Record Dates |
Last Update Posted: | February 15, 2019 |
Last Verified: | February 2019 |
Injection Therapy |
Osteoarthritis Arthritis Joint Diseases Musculoskeletal Diseases Rheumatic Diseases |