The mortality and serious side effects risk of both medical and surgical management of hip and knee osteoarthritis (OA) has been widely published. To date however, there are no studies comparing safety between the two treatment modalities. We aimed to systematically review the published evidence on the mortality and serious complications risk of the various treatments for hip and knee OA. We searched for studies investigating the safety of arthroplasty, arthroscopy, opioids, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS), and paracetamol using PubMed, Score, Cochrane, PEDRO, and Google Scholar. The phrase “osteoarthritis treatment” was searched and then combined using Boolean connectors (“OR and “AND) with “serious complications” or “serious adverse events” or “mortality”. The quality of included studies was assessed based on the approach used by the AAOS in judging the quality of treatment studies.Introduction
Methods
