Table 3.

Synthesis of main outcomes of the effect of bisphosphonates

Drug	Reference	C	SB	SM	OST	BM
Alendronate (n = 11)	Adebayo et al. [38]	?	+	x	?	x
	Khorasani et al. [39]	?	?	x	–	+
	Zhu et al. [31]	?	+	x	x	+
	Mohan et al. [32]	?	+	x	x	?
	Panahafir et al. [33]	+	x	x	+	x
	Shirai et al., 2011 [23]	+	+	x	–	+
	Zhang et al. [24]	+	+	x	x	+
	Sniekers et al. [40]	+	+	x	x	x
	Jones et al. [35]	+	+	x	+	x
	Ding et al. [42]	–	+	x	x	x
	Hayami et al. [37]	+	+	x	+	+
Zoledronic acid (n = 7)	She et al. [20]	+	+	x	x	x
	Cinar et al. [29]	+	x	+	x	–
	Bagi et al. [30]	–	+	x	–	+
	Lampropoulou et al. [21]	+	x	x	x	x
	Dearmin et al., 2014 [43]	+	x	x	–	+
	Strassle et al. [36]	+	+	?	x	x
	Muehleman et al., 2002 [28]	+	x	x	x	+
Risedronate (n = 6)	Permuy et al. [22]	+	+	+	x	x
	Thomsen et al. [41]	–	?	x	x	+
	Jones et al. [35]	+	+	x	–	x
	MacNeil et al. [25]	+	+	x	–	x
	Doschak et al. [26]	–	+	x	x	x
	Doschak et al. [27]	–	+	x	–	x
Tiludronate (n = 2)	Moreau et al. [45]	–	+	+	–	+
	Pelletier et al. [44]	+	x	x	x	+
Pamidronate (n = 1)	Koh et al. [34]	+	+	x	x	x

C cartilage, SB subchondral bone, SM synovial membrane, OST osteophyte, BM biochemical markers. (+) Positive effect; (−) negative effect or no effect; (?) unclear effect; (x) not included