The management of osteoarthritis: an overview and call to appropriate conservative treatment

Abstract

Despite its growing prevalence, osteoarthritis (OA) remains a poorly understood disease, and recent doubts about the safety of several commonly prescribed OA medications have served to highlight deficiencies in the traditional medical approach to management. This article presents a general outline for the management of the patient who has OA in the form of a narrative review considering diagnosis, investigation, and treatment. It provides the clinician with an overview of the available treatments in line with the guidelines of the Osteoarthritis Research Society International and the European League Against Rheumatism.