[Nutraceuticals in therapy of knee osteoarthritis: orthopaedic view]

Knee osteoarthritis is one of the most frequent diagnoses of load-carrying joints encountered in orthopaedic surgeons offices. Depending on the clinical stage, the therapy starts with conservative treatment. Corrective osteotomy is indicated in younger patients without an extensive and serious impairment. Implantation of TKR (total knee replacement) is usually indicated in more advanced stages. One of the pillars of conservative therapy is analgesics and non-steroidal antirheumatic drugs. A specific group consists of perorally administered drugs for suppression of symptoms or even deceleration of knee osteoarthrosis. These products are popular mainly thanks to their good tolerance and minimal side effects. The clinical effect ranges between minimal and medium depending on the degree of osteoarthrosis, type of drug and study. Similar to rheumatologists, orthopaedic surgeons also find it difficult to identify candidates suitable for a particular type of therapy, except indication for TKR. By all means, nutraceuticals are still considered part of clinical practice.Key words: chondroitin sulphate - glucosamine sulphate - knee osteoarthrosis - methylsulfonylmethane - nutraceuticals - pharmaceutical intervention.