Osteoarthritis of the hip

The hip is the second most common large joint to be affected with osteoarthritis, affecting about 5% of people aged over 60 years, although few will need surgery.

We conducted a systematic review and aimed to answer the following clinical questions: What are the effects of non-drug treatments for osteoarthritis of the hip? What are the effects of drug treatments for osteoarthritis of the hip? What are the effects of surgical treatments for osteoarthritis of the hip? We searched: Medline, Embase, The Cochrane Library and other important databases up to November 2005 (Clinical Evidence reviews are updated periodically, please check our website for the most up-to-date version of this review). We included harms alerts from relevant organisations such as the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

We found 29 systematic reviews, RCTs, or observational studies that met our inclusion criteria. We performed a GRADE evaluation of the quality of evidence for interventions.

In this systematic review we present information relating to the effectiveness and safety of the following interventions: acupuncture, capsaicin, chondroitin, education to aid self-management, exercise, glucosamine, hip replacement, opioid analgesics (alone or plus oral non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs [NSAIDs]), oral NSAIDs (including cyclo-oxygenase-2 inhibitors), osteotomy, physical aids, and simple oral analgesics (alone or plus oral NSAIDs).