Table 2.
Summary of outcomes for included studies.
| # | Study | Outcomes charted | Summary of findings | Safety aspects |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eroğlu 2016 | Primary: WOMAC | Intra-group: No significant differences in all groups before and after intervention for both the composite score and the individual subscales. Inter-group: No significant difference for all outcomes at all time points | No severe adverse events reported |
| 2 | Hashemi 2015 | Primary: VAS, WOMAC | Intra-group: Significant differences in both groups before and after intervention for both outcomes. Inter-group: No significant difference for both outcomes | Undeclared |
| 3 | Hosseini 2019 | Primary: VAS, WOMAC | Intra-group: Significant differences in both groups before and after intervention for both outcomes. Inter-group: Significant improvement in hyaluronic acid group over dextrose group for both outcomes | No serious adverse events reported |
| 4 | Pishgahi 2020 | Primary: VAS, WOMAC (Persian version) | Intra-group: No significant improvement in pain or function at 1 and 6 months for dextrose group Significant improvement in pain for PRP group at 1 month but not sustained at 6; significant improvement in function at 1 and 6 months Significant changes in pain and function at 1 and 6 months for ACS group. Inter-group: PRP showed significant improvement over dextrose for function but not pain ACS showed significant improvement over dextrose for pain and function as well as over PRP for pain | Undeclared |
| 5 | Rabago 2013 | Primary: WOMAC. Secondary: Knee pain scale (KPS). Tertiary: Procedure-related pain severity, daily oipiod usage, treatment satisfaction | Intra-group: Significant improvements in WOMAC scores across all groups. Inter-group: Dextrose group had significantly-better WOMAC scores vs saline and exercise controls when adjusted for sex, age, and body mass Dextrose group had significantly-better KPS scores vs saline and exercise controls | Mild-moderate post-injection pain 3 patients had self-limited bruising No other side effects or adverse events |
| 6 | Rahimzadeh 2014 | Primary: VAS, range of movement, patient satisfaction | Intra-group: Pain, ROM and patient satisfaction improved significantly in both the EPO and pulsed RF groups by the 12-week endpoint No improvements in the dextrose group. Inter-group: Pain and ROM improved significantly more for the EPO group as compared to the other two groups | No serious adverse events reported |
| 7 | Rahimzadeh 2018 | Primary: WOMAC and pain/stiffiness/functional subscores | Intra-group: Improvement in all measures for both groups between baseline and 6-month follow-up. Inter-group: All scores were significantly better for the PRP group as compared to the prolotherapy group | No serious adverse events reported |
| 8 | Reeves 2000 | Primary: VAS, frequency of leg buckling, flexion by goniometry, radiological findings of joint narrowing, osteophytosis, and anterior displacement difference | Intra-group: Pain improved in both groups but was only statistically significant in the dextrose group Radiographic features at 1-year timepoint were found to demonstrate improvement in osteoarthritic severity in the dextrose group. Inter-group: Multivariate analysis showed statistically-superior effect in the dextrose group for all non-radiographic outcomes | Some patients reported pain from distension of the joint capsule One patient had a postinjection flare that required IA steroid and orthopedic referral (subsequently found to have received placebo) |
| 9 | Rezasoltani 2020 | Primary: VAS. Secondary: Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) (Persian) | Intra-group: Pain and KOOS scores fell in all groups but was most marked in botulinum neurotoxin and dextrose prolotherapy groups. Inter-group: Hyaluronic acid was the least effective in terms of both pain improvement and KOOS total + subscales | No serious adverse events reported |
| 10 | Sit 2020 | Primary: WOMAC pain subscale (Chinese). Secondary: VAS, WOMAC and stiffness/functional subscales (Chinese), physical function measures, EuroQol-5D | Inter-group: Statistically-significant improvements in WOMAC pain subscale, functional subscale, composite score, pain, and EuroQol-5D VAS favouring dextrose over normal saline | Eight serious adverse events reported (2 in dextrose group and 6 in saline group) - but none were related to the interventions |
| 11 | Sert 2020 | Primary: WOMAC pain subscale. Secondary: WOMAC stiffness/functional subscales, VAS for pain and stiffness, SF-36 | Inter-group: Statistically-significant improvements in pain for dextrose group compared to both saline and exercise controls Statistically-significant improvements in stiffness and physical functioning for dextrose group compared to the exercise control | Undeclared |
Abbreviations: EA: Extra-articular, IA: Intra-articular, PRP: Platelet-rich plasma; ROM: Range of motion; WOMAC: Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Arthritis Index.