背景及目的:台灣目前正逐漸進入老年型社會,因此,老化及退化性疾病也逐漸受到重視。在骨科方面,主要是退化性關節炎病人逐年增加,而治療方式也日新月異,目前較廣為接受的處理原則為ACR Guidelines 2000。除了口服藥物及手術外,侵犯性介於兩者之間的膝關節玻尿酸注射目前也是一個很普遍的治療方式。相關的研究報告也不在少數,本研究是比較兩種不同分子量的玻尿酸(sodium hyaluronate,Artz®,MW = 0.6-1.2 kDA及Hylan G-F 20,Synvisc®,MW = 6 kDA)分別注射不同膝關節,經六個月追蹤後,統計並比較這兩種玻尿酸對病人的療效、滿意度及經濟效益,以提供臨床治療之參考。 方法: 自94年10月1日起至95年12月31日止,共收集41位合乎膝關節玻尿酸注射適應症(參考第一章之附註)之退化性膝關節炎患者,其中37位完成完整治療追蹤之過程,受試者隨機接受Artz®(每週一次共五週)或Synvisc®(每週一次共三週),並分別以VAS,WOMAC,HSS score及Lequesne’s index作評估,評估的時間點為baseline(治療前)、第八、第十二、第十六、第二十、及第二十六週等六次。使用統計軟體做雙變數分析,配對檢定,以比較治療成效的差異。 統計假設: Null hypothesis:兩種不同分子量玻尿酸治療26週後,療效無明顯差異。 Alternative hypothesis(two-sided):兩者療效有明顯差異。 結果: 37位病人平均年齡為71.3 ± 7.5歲,作者使用two-way ANOVA做分析統計,經重複量數的比較,發現以VAS(圖六),WOMAC(圖八)或 Lequesne’s index(圖十)做評估,病人使用Artz®或Synvisc®做關節內注射,其疼痛都有顯著的改善,而且兩種藥物間有統計學上的差異(p < 0.05)。若Artz®及Synvisc®做關節內注射治療後,以WOMAC A1(圖七)及 HSS score(圖九)分別作症狀評估也可發現疼痛都有顯著的改善,但兩者間看不出差異。作者也比較兩膝在各評估點中VAS,WOMAC,Lequesne’s index 及HSS score等各種scores與baseline的差距,我們將之視為症狀改善的程度,經paired t-test分析(圖11-20)後發現HSS score的改善程度兩膝間無明顯差異(p > 0.05);WOMAC A1評估兩種藥物在12週前有顯著差異(p < 0.05),12週後療效便無差異(p > 0.05)。而VAS,WOMAC及Lequesne’s index的評估結果中,兩種藥物在整個療程追蹤過程中其療效都有統計學上的差異,注射Synvisc®的膝關節其症狀改善程度較高(p < 0.05)。由以上的統計結果顯示,兩膝在治療前症狀的程度即有差異,而Synvisc®的短期疼痛緩解效果較Artz®為佳,但中期以後(12週後)兩種藥物對症狀的改善程度差異性減少。Artz®在台灣的健保給付價格為NT$1462,Synvisc®為NT$1962,Artz® 5劑為一個療程,Synvisc® 3劑為一個療程,一次療程二者藥費Synvisc®便宜NT$1424。病人在醫學中心就診一次的費用,不含交通費約需NT$460,三次為NT$1380,五次為NT$2300。若病人選擇注射Synvisc®,一次療程可比選擇Artz® 節省NT$2344(表8-9)。而且選擇Synvisc®的病人可減少兩次的侵入性治療,除了時間的節省以外,也可減少感染及其它併發症的機會。 結論:Synvisc®在短期緩解疼痛的效果比Artz®好,但在中期的效果則和Artz®較無明顯差異。在經濟效益方面,三劑Synvisc®比五劑Artz®在台灣的健保支付價格便宜NT$1424,且病人若選擇注射Synvisc®,只需來門診三次,而注射Artz®需來門診五次,則病人花費在交通費及其他額外費用如掛號費的支出等,明顯比Synvisc®的療程花費多。因此,以對病人的經濟效益而言,Synvisc®的注射療程顯比Artz®佔優勢。雖然Artz®和Synvisc®的中長期療效無明顯差異,但Synvisc®的短期效果顯著,病人可能直覺上會認為Synvisc®效果較佳,再以病人的就醫成本而言,選擇Synvisc®可以使病人減少時間及金錢的耗費,並可以減少兩次膝關節注射的疼痛,這對病人有極大的誘因,因此大部分會選擇繼續接受Synvisc®治療也就不難想像。至於兩種藥物半年以上的長期評估比較,則需要再進一步的研究設計。
This study was to determine whether hyaluronan (hyaluronic acid, HA) products with different molecular weight (MW) have significant differences in the treatment of early osteoarthritic (OA) knees. There were 41 patients with primary symptomatic OA of both knees, prospectively collected between October 2005 and December 2006 at our outpatient clinic. This study applied HA products with two different MW: sodium hyaluronate, Artz® (MW = 0.6-1.2 kDA) and Hylan G-F 20, Synvisc® (MW = 6 kDA). Artz® injection was applied once a week for five consecutive weeks and Synvisc® intraarticular injection was applied once a week for three consecutive weeks. Based on the questionnaire, we compared the efficacy monthly for half a year to assess which HA product had better degrees of improvement. We also calculated and compared the total cost effectiveness. There were no significant differences in long term clinical efficacy between the two HA products, but the Synvisc® showed significant benefit in short term symptoms relief. However, patients paid fewer in Synvisc® intraarticular injections than in Artz® intraarticular injections. Some studies suggest that products with high MW have better therapeutic effects than those with low MW, whereas other studies show no significant differences between them. In our study, higher MW HA possessed a greater symptom-relieving effect than lower MW HA in short term follow-up; however, there were no significant differences between them in long term results. Synvisc® treatment resulted in better short term pain relief and a reasonable cost-effectiveness ratio for patients with early knee OA.