The pharmacological management of Charcot neuroarthropathy

S.S. Al-Nammari

Introduction: Acute Charcot neuroarthropathy is a devastating condition and its incidence is increasing. Currently, treatment consists of immobilisation and off-loading of the involved extremity. Outcomes are frequently poor and novel treatments are being sought urgently. This review aims to outline advances in the pharmacological treatment of this condition.

Method: PubMed and the Cochrane Database of systematic reviews were searched. Relevant papers were cross referenced.

Results: Eleven original studies and three reviews were found. The limited data available suggest pamidronate, alendronate and calcitonin provide some clinical and biochemical improvements while zoledronic acid is deleterious and increases off-loading times. However, the data is not robust enough to convincingly demonstrate clinically meaningful effects. The studies were predominantly low quality and heterogeneous. They differed markedly in study type, pharmacological agent used, dosing regimen, disease aetiology/stage/location, concurrent off-loading regimen, outcomes and follow-up. Few were rigorous in controlling for associated confounding variables and none investigated long term outcomes.

Conclusion: The routine use of pharmacological treatment modalities for this condition is not recommended in the United States by the Food and Drug Administration or in the United Kingdom by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence. Given the evidence available this is justified and further, higher quality, research is required.