After the rise in safety concerns surrounding Vioxx and other Cox-2 inhibitors, people suffering from chronic shoulder pain were left with just two therapy options at opposite extremes - take Advil, or have surgery. But a new study from Columbia University Medical Center shows that sodium hyaluronate, a drug that is FDA-approved for osteoarthritis of the knee, is also effective for shoulder pain.

The study was presented today at the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons annual meeting in Chicago by Theodore Blaine, M.D., assistant professor of orthopaedic surgery at Columbia University Medical Center and an attending surgeon at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital.

The study showed that in patients with osteoarthritis of the shoulder, sodium hyaluronate was effective in reducing chronic pain by nearly 50 percent. The results were comparable to the 1998 study that led the FDA to approve the drug's use in treating knee pain. The FDA is currently reviewing the results in shoulder pain.

"Chronic shoulder pain is a common problem that can not adequately be treated with existing FDA-approved therapies," said Dr. Blaine, who was the principal investigator of the study. "The results of the trial were very encouraging, and we hope will lead to this drug's approval as an effective therapy for thousands of suffering patients."

According to the National Institute of Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, shoulder problems account for about 1.5 million visits to orthopaedic surgeons annually. The pain can be caused by a variety of problems, including osteoarthritis or rotator cuff tears.

Sodium hyaluronate is a vital building block of normal cartilage. It is marketed under the name Hyalgan by Sanofi Aventis.

All of the patients in the study had previously tried nonsurgical clinical interventions - including physical therapy, at least one steroid injection, and various oral pain medications - but the pain persisted. At the beginning
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Contact: Craig LeMoult
cel2113@columbia.edu
212-305-0820
Columbia University Medical Center
24-Mar-2006

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