Insurance now covers post-op HA injections, drastically decreasing enrollment.

This study will look at patients with post-operative treatment of a meniscal tear or degenerative joint disease (degenerative arthritis). They will be randomized into one of three groups: Euflexxa injection, saline (placebo) injection, or no injection. Those who are randomized into the injection group will receive a series of three injections (one a week for 3 weeks), then a "booster" injection at 6 months post-op. Several questionnaires will be given after the first set of injections, then again at a one year follow-up.

The hypothesis is that patients receiving hyaluronic acid injections will have better pain and function scores as compared with placebo and no further treatment at all time points.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Patients in post-op stage of treatment for meniscal tears or chondropathy/DJD
• Over 40 years of age
• A daily knee pain above 20mm on a 100mm visual analogue scale

Exclusion Criteria:

• Previous recipient of viscosupplementation injections
• Had rheumatoid arthritis or other inflammatory arthritis
• Had intra-articular steroid injections within the previous 2 months
• Invasive knee procedures within the past 6 months
• Contraindications to hyaluronate (an allergy)
• Medications that could interfere with the planned interventions

1 year

Early termination due to new insurance coverage for post-operative knee viscosupplementation leading to small numbers of subjects analyzed.