Guías y recomendaciones para el diagnóstico y tratamiento de la artrosis: en busca del consenso

Osteoarthritis cannot be considered a single disease but rather a heterogeneous group of ailments with similar clinical symptoms and analogous radiological and pathological changes, which makes it difficult to establish uniform recommendations for them all.

Given this disparity it is necessary to establish recommendations that will make a series of criteria available for professionals in order to unify their attitudes.

The American College of Rheumatology (ACR) established the first criteria for the classification of osteoarthritis of the hand, hip and knee, but it was not until 2000 that its recommendations for the medical treatment of osteoarthritis of the hip and knee were published, followed by the European recommendations in 2001, subsequently revised in 2003 and 2005. In 2007 the recommendations for the treatment of osteoarthritis of the hands were published. Finally, in 2008, the Osteoarthritis Research Society International (OARSI) recommendations for the treatment of osteoarthritis of the hip and knee, result of consensus between European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) and ACR, were published.

A second review of new evidence gathered from January 2006, when the OARSI recommendations were made, until January 2009, showed variations in the range of the effect of the different forms of treatment. Adherence to the recommendations is in general low, and it seems necessary to create strategies to make it easier for professionals to follow the recommendations, as well as to design and conduct clinical trials, which meet a set of minimum parameters, sufficiently specific and sensitive, in order to assess their effect on the disease. Only by regularly updating this knowledge can we help improve our clinical practice, as long as strategies are developed to facilitate adherence to the recommendations from the professionals involved.