Yttrium radiosynoviorthesis in the treatment of knee arthritis in rheumatoid arthritis: a systematic review.
OBJECTIVE
To consider the question: How strong is the evidence in favour of yttrium synovectomy in chronic knee arthritis in patients with rheumatoid arthritis in comparison with placebo and intra-articular steroid treatment?


METHODS
A systematic review of the literature was performed using Medline and the Embase database.


RESULTS
Initially, seven papers were identified, but only two met the inclusion criteria. Neither study showed evidence in favour of yttrium synovectomy.


CONCLUSIONS
From the point of view of evidence based medicine it should be seriously questioned whether yttrium synovectomy deserves a place in clinical practice.
Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Rheumatology, University Hospital Maastricht, Maastricht, The Netherlands. eheuf@sint.azm.nl
L L
LL
Heuft-Dorenbosch
H C
HC
de Vet
S
S
van der Linden
D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D005938:Glucocorticoids / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D007270:Injections, Intra-Articular; D007719:Knee Joint; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D013583:Synovial Membrane / Q000187:drug effects / Q000528:radiation effects*; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D015021:Yttrium Radioisotopes / Q000627:therapeutic use*
D005938:Glucocorticoids; D015021:Yttrium Radioisotopes