This is a bibliographic record of a published health technology assessment from a member of INAHTA. No evaluation of the quality of this assessment has been made for the HTA database.

The aim of this bulletin is to provide an overview of intra-articular hyaluronic acid (viscosupplementation) for knee osteoarthritis.

In viscosupplementation, a glycosaminoglycan (GAG) called hyaluronic acid (HA) is administered via intra-articular (IA) injection for patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA).

Evidence suggests modest short-term reductions in pain and improvements in function, and no superiority among HA products.

Adverse events are rare, benign, temporary, and likely associated with the IA injection.

Economic analyses of mixed quality suggest that HA may be cost effective compared with usual care.

Clinical practice guidelines and evidence suggest that this approach is most suitable for patients with mild to moderate knee OA, and in those for whom other approaches are contraindicated, or have failed.