Denervation for Osteoarthritis in the PIP-joint Efficacy Study (DOPS)

This is a parallel group, two-arm, randomized, controlled trial comparing the effects of surgical denevation to patient education plus exercise in patients with symptomatic PIP joint osteoarthritis.

The research questions are:

• Does any of the treatments denervation of the PIP-joint and patient education plus exercise decrease pain, improve patient-reported outcomes, grip strength and range of motion (ROM) in PIP-joint osteoarthritis?
• Does denervation of the PIP-joint decrease pain, and improve patient-reported outcomes grip strength and ROM more effectively than patient education plus exercise for PIP-joint osteoarthritis?

Participants will be randomly assigned (1:1) to receive surgical denervation of the PIP-joint or education plus exercise. A block randomization scheme with a fixed block size of 10 will be used. Patients will be stratified according to gender. Sealed opaque envelopes will be used and data analysts will be masked for treatment allocation.

Assesments will be made at inclusion, and after 3, 6 and 12 months. The studys primary enpoint is 12 months after intervention.

Inclusion criteria

• Age ≥ 18 years.
• Chronic symptomatic osteoarthritis in the PIP-joint.
• Radiological signs of osteoarthritis on posteroanterior and lateral radiographs assessed by the Kellgren-Lawrence classification (grade II-IV) (Kellgren & Lawrence, 1957).
• Clinical signs of PIP-joint arthritis.

Exclusion criteria

• Inflammatory arthritis.
• Ongoing infection in the hand.
• Inability to co-operate with the follow-up protocol.
• Intra-articular glucocorticoid, PRP or Hyaluronic acid injections in the affected joint less than 3 months prior to enrollment.