Clinical Trial: Osteonecrosis of the Hip and Bisphosphonate Treatment
Study Status: Withdrawn
Recruit Status: Unknown status
Study Type: Interventional
Official Title: A Randomised Controlled Trial of Bisphosphonate Therapy in Osteonecrosis of the Hip
Brief Summary:
Osteonecrosis of the hip is an important cause of musculoskeletal disability and finding therapeutic solutions has proven to be challenging. Osteonecrosis means death of bone which can occur from the loss of the blood supply or some other means. Although any age group may develop osteonecrosis, most patients are between 20 and 50 years old. The most common risk factor is a history of high steroid treatment for some medical condition. The next most common associated condition is a history of high alcohol use. There are some cases of osteonecrosis that occur in patients that are otherwise completely healthy with no detectable risk factors.
In the earliest stage of the disease, x-rays appear normal and the diagnosis is made using MRI. The advanced stages of osteonecrosis begin when the dead bone starts to fail mechanically through a process of microfractures of the bone. As the disease progresses, the surface begins to collapse until, finally the integrity of the joint is destroyed. A wide range of surgical treatments with variable success rates have been proposed for the treatment of the osteonecrosis to preserve joint integrity, including core decompression, whereby the venous hypertension that ensues is lessened and revascularisation may be induced leading to bone repair. Nonsurgical treatment options are limited and usually result in a poor prognosis. Early stage disease can be treated with protected weight bearing and physiotherapy, however some studies have shown protected weight bearing to be associated with a greater than 85% rate of femoral head collapse. Unfortunately most studies indicate that the risk for disease progression is greater with nonsurgical treatment than with surgical intervention. There are no established pharmaceuticals for the prevention of treatment of osteonecrosis. Evidence is increasing that the nitrogen containing bisphosphonates may be benef
Detailed Summary:
Osteonecrosis (ON) of the hip is an important cause of musculoskeletal disability and finding therapeutic solutions has proven challenging. Patients who are affected with ON are often relatively young, usually in the third to sixth decade of life. ON of the hip is an increasingly common cause of musculoskeletal disability. It can cause pain with or without loss of function of the joint and often ends in substantial use of health care resources and disability. ON of the hip usually progresses to severe destruction of the femoral head with resultant degeneration of the hip joint, in most cases requiring joint replacement.
Early diagnosis has been made easier using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), however no common satisfactory therapy has been developed for the early stage of the disease. Early surgery aimed at preserving the femoral head has been proposed, such as vascularised fibula grafting. However, the results of this invasive technique do not seem to be widely reproducible, and more minor interventions such as core drilling have high failure rates. Evidence is increasing that the nitrogen containing bisphosphonates may be beneficial in the treatment of ON. Data from clinical trials with patients with ON of the hip suggested that the bisphosphonate alendronate would reduce pain and disability and may reduce progression to femoral head collapse that usually would require surgical intervention.
With this study we aim to determine the efficacy of bisphosphonate therapy (zoledronic acid) versus placebo for reducing pain and disability in ON of the femoral head necrosis (palliative endpoint) and to investigate the effect of bisphosphonate therapy versus placebo in reducing progression to femoral head collapse and the need for surgical intervention (therapeutic endpoint).
Met
Sponsor: University of Sydney
Current Primary Outcome: reducing pain and disability in the hip [ Time Frame: 1 years ]
Original Primary Outcome: Same as current
Current Secondary Outcome: reducing progression to femoral head collapse and the need for surgical intervention [ Time Frame: 3 years ]
Original Secondary Outcome: Same as current
Information By: University of Sydney
Dates:
Date Received: October 27, 2008
Date Started: August 2009
Date Completion: December 2013
Last Updated: January 11, 2013
Last Verified: January 2013
