[Drug therapy of arthrosis]

Abstract

Osteoarthritis is one of the most common and economically important chronic diseases amongst adults, especially those of a senior age. There now exists a range of effective medications, which either alone or in combination can alleviate the symptoms of the disease and improve the quality of life. Because these medications are not always sufficiently effective and must sometimes be interrupted due to side effects, a large arsenal of active agents is necessary. Alleviation of pain and inhibition of inflammation are the primary goals of pharmacotherapy, whereby the objective is to return an active or transiently painful, decompensated osteoarthritis to a latent (silent, pain-free) condition. This therapeutic goal can almost always be accomplished by using analgesics, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), or intraarticular injection of glucocorticoids. The main problem in administering NSAIDs is their gastrointestinal toxicity,for which a prophylactic medication (e.g., simultaneous application of misoprostol or switching to a COX-2 selective NSAID) should be considered especially with risk groups. The newly developed COX-2 selective NSAIDs represent a true enrichment of our therapeutic options. The spectrum of indications for COX-2 selective NSAIDs should in the future correspond to that of older NSAID preparations, providing that no as yet unknown and serious side effects come to light from their use. Pharmacological results published until now confirm that a clinically relevant analgesic and/or anti-inflammatory effect is associated with the use of SYSA-DOAs (symptomatic slow acting drugs in osteoarthritis). However, no clinical studies exist which can positively confirm prevention of morphologically recognizable cartilage defects in man, or a slowing down or reversal of any progressively developing joint cartilage destruction by any individual medication. Neither the benefits, risks, pharmaceutical quality, nor composition of Orthokin are known, and for this reason its use can not be recommended. Pharmacotherapy should only be considered as one of the three pillars of a long-term,stage-adjusted, and individually customized therapy, the other two of which are represented by nonpharmacological measures and surgical treatment.