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Table 1 Adverse event analysis

From: Hyaluronic acid injection therapy for osteoarthritis of the knee: concordant efficacy and conflicting serious adverse events in two systematic reviews

AE category

Number of studies

Number of events, HA group

Sample size, HA group

Number of events, placebo group

Sample size, placebo group

Relative risk

95 % confidence interval

All serious AEs (combined joint and othera)

8

27

1056

16

1017

1.39

(0.78, 2.47)

Serious AEs, joint (e.g., synovitis)

5

10

442

8

447

1.25

(0.53, 2.94)

Serious AEs, other (e.g., herpes zoster)

6

17

614

8

570

1.52

(0.70, 3.26)

All non-serious AEs (combined joint, local non-joint, and other)

10

415

1645

375

1564

1.03

(0.93, 1.15)

Non-serious AEs, joint (e.g., pain)

7

121

559

97

518

1.15

(0.91, 1.43)

Non-serious AEs, local non-joint (e.g., erythema)

6

98

492

79

493

1.26

(0.99, 1.60)

Non-serious AEs, other (e.g., headache)

6

196

594

199

553

0.89

(0.78, 1.03)

  1. Our review finds no significant risk of adverse events (NSAEs) or serious adverse events (SAEs) associated with hyaluronic acid (HA) injections in knee osteoarthritis (confidence intervals cross 1; italicized rows). Subgroup analysis by AE category (joint, other, local non-jointa) also found no significant risk of NSAEs or SAEs (confidence intervals cross 1; plain text rows)
  2. aNo studies reported local non-joint SAEs