A Solution for your Knee OA Patients
More than 8.5 million people in the UK have osteoarthritis (OA) and the knee is one of the most commonly affected joints. There are many treatment options, but did you know that DJO now offers two offloading DonJoy knee braces on NHS prescription for your patients? What's more, they are free (1) to the patient.
Offloading braces as a treatment option
Braces give patients with joint pain or instability a non-pharmacological solution for offloading their knee joint as an adjunct to other core treatments, as suggested in current NICE Guidelines for Osteoarthritis Care and Management (2).
Studies have shown that offloading knee braces are a cost-effective method as a bridging therapy and long-term use can delay and reduce surgical intervention (3). Studies also provide evidence that if patients wear offloading braces for more than 2 years, surgical intervention is not needed.
What braces can be prescribed, free (1), to a patient?
- OA Reaction Web (TM), which has a fixed level off offloading for early to mild unicompartmental osteoarthritis
- Clima-Flex OA (TM), for mild to moderate unicompartmental osteoarthritis, with adjustable offloading
How to prescribe
If you do not have prescribing rights, you can refer to a patient's GP to request the prescription. You can download a template letter from www.oabrace.co.uk to help you do this. If you are a prescriber, simply write a prescription directly or look up "OA Reaction Web" and "Clima-Flex OA" on your EPS.
Prescriptions can be taken to any pharmacy, but the fastest way getting the brace to the patient is to send the prescription to Daylong who will deliver the brace direct to the patient's home.
(1) Prescription fees may apply
(2) www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg177
(3) Lee PYF, Winfield TG, Harris SRS, et al. Unloading knee brace is a cost-effective method to bridge and delay surgery in unicompartmental knee arthritis. BMJ Open Sport Exerc Med 2017;2:e000195.doi:10.1136/bmjsem-2016-000195
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