To provide an overview of the diagnosis and pathophysiology of osteoarthritis (OA), and to describe appropriate treatments for knee OA, with a focus on the efficacy and safety of viscosupplementation. Because nurse practitioners (NPs) can inject viscosupplements, a section on injection technique is included.
Manuscripts were identified using PubMed and EMBASE with a review of the reference lists from retrieved articles.
As the number of patients with OA is increasing, NPs need to be prepared to prescribe various treatment options to alleviate osteoarthritic knee pain, including viscosupplementation.
Viscosupplements are safe and effective at improving function and alleviating knee pain from OA for up to 26 weeks.