Efficacy of Cannabidiol in Knee Osteoarthritis

Summary

Painful symptomatic osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee is a very common disease, especially in older people (lifetime prevalence 9.5%). Current systemic pharmacological treatment options are limited. Many patients presenting with knee osteoarthritis are of an advanced age and suffer from various co-morbidities. The benefit of the available systemic pharmacological treatment options in these patients can be summarized as uncertain. Therefore, the investigation of new symptomatic systemic pharmacological treatment options for knee OA is relevant. Even in patients without known contraindications, the treatment period with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs should be kept short. It follows that the investigation of new potentially anti-inflammatory substances is of interest in symptomatic OA of the knee. Cannabidiol has anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties in animal models. We therefore propose a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial to investigate the potential efficacy of cannabidiol in painful symptomatic OA of the knee.

Timeline

Start

2020-10-13

Primary completion

2022-02-17

Completion

2022-03-29

Publications

• Pramhas S, Thalhammer T, Terner S, Pickelsberger D, Gleiss A, Sator S, Kress HG. Oral cannabidiol (CBD) as add-on to paracetamol for painful chronic osteoarthritis of the knee: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial. Lancet Reg Health Eur. 2023 Nov 10;35:100777. doi: 10.1016/j.lanepe.2023.100777. eCollection 2023 Dec.

Drugs

Indications