(114a) Biomaterial Based Approaches to Manage Osteoarthritic Pain

Pain is considered the most common disabling symptom of osteoarthritis (OA). Currently employed interventions to manage osteoarthritis pain include physiotherapy, anti-inflammatory drugs, intra-articular corticosteroid injections and visco-supplementation such as hyaluronic acid injection. As the prevalence of OA is steadily increasing, there is an urgent need to explore novel therapeutic strategies to manage osteoarthritic pain. The overall goal of our studies is to develop non-addictive approaches to manage OA pain. Our studies on combining biomaterial based approaches with local anesthetics and anti-inflammatory/analgesic pain modulators as well as intraarticular and periarticular routes of administration will be discussed.