title: Evidence for using alendronate to treat adult avascular necrosis of the femoral head: a systematic review.
abstract: Osteonecrosis or avascular osteonecrosis (AVN) of the femoral head is a devastating multifactorial disease that affects 20 000 persons each year in the United States. The purpose of this systematic review was to determine the efficacy and safety of alendronate for adult AVN during short- and long-term follow-up. Electronic databases were searched for randomized or nonrandomized clinical trials, cohort, case-control studies, and series of cases in which alendronate was used for treatment of adult AVN of the femoral head. Relevant articles with adequate data on reduction of pain, improvement of articular function, slowing of bone collapse progression, or need for total hip arthroplasty (THA) were included after applying inclusion and exclusion criteria. Eight articles involving 788 hips with evidence level 1b to 3b were included in this systematic review. Most studies suggested a positive short-term efficacy of alendronate treatment in reducing pain, improving articular function, slowing of bone collapse progression, and delaying the need for THA for adult AVN patients. The favorable long-term results were also presented in those treated patients after 10-year follow-up. In addition, there were no severe adverse effects associated with alendronate treatment observed during short- and long-term follow-up, and most of the included studies suggested use of alendronate in early AVN with small necrotic lesion to achieve better outcomes. The findings support consideration of alendronate use for adult AVN, particularly with early stage and small necrotic size. The lack of large-scale, randomized, and double-blind studies justifies new studies to demonstrate the detailed indication and the optimized strategy of alendronate treatment. Level of evidence: Level 3a.
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Research Institute of Emergency Medicine, Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China (mainland).
authors.forename: Ru-Bin
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China (mainland).
authors.forename: Tiao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Research Institute of Emergency Medicine, Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China (mainland).
authors.forename: Hui-Ming
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Zhong
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China (mainland).
authors.forename: Shi-Gui
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.affiliation: Emergency Medicine, Research Institute of Emergency Medicine, Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China (mainland).
authors.forename: Jian-An
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D019386:Alendronate / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003710:Demography; D005260:Female; D005271:Femur Head Necrosis / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D019386:Alendronate