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NCT Number: NCT05020028

Cannabidiol (CBD) in Pain Reduction for Knee Osteoarthritis

The purpose of this study is to see if cannabidiol (CBD) orally dissolving tablets (ODTs) can lessen pain, improve function, and improve patient satisfaction in cases of knee osteoarthritis. CBD comes from the cannabis plant and is non-psychoactive (i.e. does not produce a 'high' or altered mental state) as compared to tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), another compound found in cannabis. Researchers are studying different forms of CBD for potential use in treating pain, inflammation, and illnesses.

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Key information

Conditions

Knee Arthritis

Age range

40 year–75 year

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Phase 2 / Phase 3

Primary location

NYU Langone Health

New York, 10016, United States

Location status: Recruiting

Location contact

Michael Alaia, MD

PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

About this study

This will be a multi-center, double-blinded, randomized, placebo-controlled study. The study is comparing pain, outcomes, and patient satisfaction in two cohorts: patients with knee OA undergoing physiotherapy/home exercises who receive CBD and a placebo group with PT/home exercise program. Patients will be asked on treatment Day 1, 2, 7, and 14, 28, 42, and 84 to rate their pain according to the VAS scale. Additionally, patient satisfaction and clinical outcomes will be measured.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: No

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • Patients presenting with knee osteoarthritis (KL Grade II-III)
  • Knee pain for at least three months, occurring in at least half of the days in that period
  • VAS ≥ 4
  • Patients ages 40-75, inclusive
  • If female patients are pre-menopausal they must be currently practicing effective forms of two types of birth control, which are defined as those, alone or in combination, that result in a low failure rate (less than 1% per year) when used consistently and correctly
  • Male patients must be using an effective form of contraception

Exclusion criteria

  • Knee Injections within the last 3 months (cortisone, PRP, hyaluronic acid)
  • Legally incompetent or mentally impaired (e.g., minors, Alzheimer's subjects, dementia, etc.)
  • Younger than 40 years of age
  • Older than 75 years of age
  • Any patient considered a vulnerable subject: pregnant women or fetuses, children, cognitively impaired adults, prisoners
  • History of cannabis abuse or dependence
  • History of coagulation abnormalities and thromboembolic disease or current abnormal coagulation test values
  • History of stroke or acute coronary syndromes within 3 months
  • Abnormal coagulation profile
  • Renal failure (serum creatinine > 250 μmol/L [2.83 mg/dL]) or liver cirrhosis
  • Patients that have been on opioid management for any reason just prior to the study
  • Patients with known inflammatory arthritis (such as rheumatoid arthritis, gout, pseudogout etc)
  • Patients with a large effusion
  • Patients with a BMI > 35
  • Patients meeting the DSM-V for major psychiatric illness, such as bipolar disorder
  • Patients diagnosed with major depression, psychosis, or substance abuse disorder
  • Patients with current or a history of suicidal ideation
  • Breastfeeding females
  • Abnormal LFTs
  • Patients with major neurological disorders, such as dementia, Parkinson's disease, cognitive impairment, epilepsy, history of traumatic brain/head injury, or seizures
  • Patients with moderate (Child-Pugh B) and severe hepatic impairment (Child-Pugh C).
  • Patients taking moderate or strong inhibitors of CYP3A4 and CYP2C19 (listed below) concomitantly will be considered for exclusion if determined to be clinically significant by the treating physicians
  • Patients taking strong CYP3A4 and CYP2C19 inducers (listed below) concomitantly will be considered for exclusion if determined to be clinically significant by the treating physicians
  • Patients taking substrates of UTG1A9, UTGB17, CYP2A1, CYP2B6, CYP2C8, CYP2C9 and CYP2C19 (listed below) concomitantly will be considered for exclusion if determined to be clinically significant by the treating physicians

Treatment and study plan

Cannabidiol (CBD)

Drug

Patients will be dispensed enough 25mg cannabidiol (CBD) Orally Disintegrating Tablets (ODT) to take a standard dose of 50mg three times daily for 84 days.

Other names: Cannabidiol

Placebo

Drug

25mg Placebo ODT looks like the cannabidiol (CBD) Orally Disintegrating Tablets (ODT), but contains no active ingredients.

Primary outcomes

  1. VAS Pain Severity Score

    Time frame: Day 1

    A Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) will be used to measure differences in pain between patients receiving CBD with knee OA undergoing physiotherapy compared to patients who do not receive CBD. Patients rate their pain on a scale ranging from 0 (no pain) to 10 (worst pain imaginable). Total scores range from 0-10; higher scores indicates greater pain intensity.

  2. VAS Pain Severity Score

    Time frame: Day 2

    A Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) will be used to measure differences in pain between patients receiving CBD with knee OA undergoing physiotherapy compared to patients who do not receive CBD. Patients rate their pain on a scale ranging from 0 (no pain) to 10 (worst pain imaginable). Total scores range from 0-10; higher scores indicates greater pain intensity.

  3. VAS Pain Severity Score

    Time frame: Day 7

    A Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) will be used to measure differences in pain between patients receiving CBD with knee OA undergoing physiotherapy compared to patients who do not receive CBD. Patients rate their pain on a scale ranging from 0 (no pain) to 10 (worst pain imaginable). Total scores range from 0-10; higher scores indicates greater pain intensity.

  4. VAS Pain Severity Score

    Time frame: Day 14

    A Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) will be used to measure differences in pain between patients receiving CBD with knee OA undergoing physiotherapy compared to patients who do not receive CBD. Patients rate their pain on a scale ranging from 0 (no pain) to 10 (worst pain imaginable). Total scores range from 0-10; higher scores indicates greater pain intensity.

  5. VAS Pain Severity Score

    Time frame: Day 28

    A Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) will be used to measure differences in pain between patients receiving CBD with knee OA undergoing physiotherapy compared to patients who do not receive CBD. Patients rate their pain on a scale ranging from 0 (no pain) to 10 (worst pain imaginable). Total scores range from 0-10; higher scores indicates greater pain intensity.

  6. VAS Pain Severity Score

    Time frame: Day 42

    A Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) will be used to measure differences in pain between patients receiving CBD with knee OA undergoing physiotherapy compared to patients who do not receive CBD. Patients rate their pain on a scale ranging from 0 (no pain) to 10 (worst pain imaginable). Total scores range from 0-10; higher scores indicates greater pain intensity.

  7. VAS Pain Severity Score

    Time frame: Day 84

    A Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) will be used to measure differences in pain between patients receiving CBD with knee OA undergoing physiotherapy compared to patients who do not receive CBD. Patients rate their pain on a scale ranging from 0 (no pain) to 10 (worst pain imaginable). Total scores range from 0-10; higher scores indicates greater pain intensity.

Secondary outcomes

  1. Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS)

    Time frame: Baseline

    KOOS is a knee-specific instrument, developed to assess patients' opinion about their knee and associated problems. The five patient-relevant subscales of KOOS are scored separately: Pain (9 items); Symptoms (7 items); ADL Function (17 items); Sport and Recreation Function (5 items); Quality of Life (4 items).

    Patients rank each item using a 5-piont Likert scale ranging from 0 (No Problems) to 4 (Extreme Problems) and each of the five scores are calculated as the sum of the items included. Scores are transformed to a 0-100 scale, with zero representing extreme knee problems and 100 representing no knee problems.

  2. Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS)

    Time frame: Week 6

    KOOS is a knee-specific instrument, developed to assess patients' opinion about their knee and associated problems. The five patient-relevant subscales of KOOS are scored separately: Pain (9 items); Symptoms (7 items); ADL Function (17 items); Sport and Recreation Function (5 items); Quality of Life (4 items).

    Patients rank each item using a 5-piont Likert scale ranging from 0 (No Problems) to 4 (Extreme Problems) and each of the five scores are calculated as the sum of the items included. Scores are transformed to a 0-100 scale, with zero representing extreme knee problems and 100 representing no knee problems.

  3. Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS)

    Time frame: Week 12

    KOOS is a knee-specific instrument, developed to assess patients' opinion about their knee and associated problems. The five patient-relevant subscales of KOOS are scored separately: Pain (9 items); Symptoms (7 items); ADL Function (17 items); Sport and Recreation Function (5 items); Quality of Life (4 items).

    Patients rank each item using a 5-piont Likert scale ranging from 0 (No Problems) to 4 (Extreme Problems) and each of the five scores are calculated as the sum of the items included. Scores are transformed to a 0-100 scale, with zero representing extreme knee problems and 100 representing no knee problems.

  4. Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS)

    Time frame: Week 60

    KOOS is a knee-specific instrument, developed to assess patients' opinion about their knee and associated problems. The five patient-relevant subscales of KOOS are scored separately: Pain (9 items); Symptoms (7 items); ADL Function (17 items); Sport and Recreation Function (5 items); Quality of Life (4 items).

    Patients rank each item using a 5-piont Likert scale ranging from 0 (No Problems) to 4 (Extreme Problems) and each of the five scores are calculated as the sum of the items included. Scores are transformed to a 0-100 scale, with zero representing extreme knee problems and 100 representing no knee problems.

  5. VAS Satisfaction with Pain Management Score

    Time frame: Day 1

    A Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) will be used to measure patient satisfaction with pain management. Patients rate their satisfaction on a scale ranging from 0 (no satisfaction) to 10 (as satisfied as possible). Total scores range from 0-10; higher scores indicates greater satisfaction with pain management.

  6. VAS Satisfaction with Pain Management Score

    Time frame: Day 2

    A Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) will be used to measure patient satisfaction with pain management. Patients rate their satisfaction on a scale ranging from 0 (no satisfaction) to 10 (as satisfied as possible). Total scores range from 0-10; higher scores indicates greater satisfaction with pain management.

  7. VAS Satisfaction with Pain Management Score

    Time frame: Day 7

    A Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) will be used to measure patient satisfaction with pain management. Patients rate their satisfaction on a scale ranging from 0 (no satisfaction) to 10 (as satisfied as possible). Total scores range from 0-10; higher scores indicates greater satisfaction with pain management.

  8. VAS Satisfaction with Pain Management Score

    Time frame: Day 14

    A Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) will be used to measure patient satisfaction with pain management. Patients rate their satisfaction on a scale ranging from 0 (no satisfaction) to 10 (as satisfied as possible). Total scores range from 0-10; higher scores indicates greater satisfaction with pain management.

  9. VAS Satisfaction with Pain Management Score

    Time frame: Day 28

    A Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) will be used to measure patient satisfaction with pain management. Patients rate their satisfaction on a scale ranging from 0 (no satisfaction) to 10 (as satisfied as possible). Total scores range from 0-10; higher scores indicates greater satisfaction with pain management.

  10. VAS Satisfaction with Pain Management Score

    Time frame: Day 42

    A Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) will be used to measure patient satisfaction with pain management. Patients rate their satisfaction on a scale ranging from 0 (no satisfaction) to 10 (as satisfied as possible). Total scores range from 0-10; higher scores indicates greater satisfaction with pain management.

  11. VAS Satisfaction with Pain Management Score

    Time frame: Day 84

    A Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) will be used to measure patient satisfaction with pain management. Patients rate their satisfaction on a scale ranging from 0 (no satisfaction) to 10 (as satisfied as possible). Total scores range from 0-10; higher scores indicates greater satisfaction with pain management.

  12. Number of Patients Requiring Rescue Corticosteroid Use

    Time frame: Up to Week 60

Study contacts

Contact information is provided by the study sponsor or research team.

Layne Estes

CONTACT

[email protected]

Michael J Alaia, MD

CONTACT

[email protected]

646-501-7223

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

NYU Langone Health

Other

Collaborators

  • Orcosa Inc.

Registry information

Official study title

The Use of Cannabidiol (CBD) in Pain Reduction for Knee Osteoarthritis. A Double-Blind, Randomized Control Study

Important dates

Study start
2022
Primary completion
2027
Study completion
2027
First posted
Aug 25, 2021
Registry last updated
Jun 9, 2026

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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