Osteoarthritis pain phenotypes: How best to cut the cake?

Abstract

Heterogeneity within clinical populations raises challenges and opportunities for improving treatment. Osteoarthritis (OA) treatments often adhere to the ‘one size fits all’ utilitarian approach, suggesting that everyone will gain the greatest benefit from the same treatment. However, OA is a heterogeneous condition, with multiple pathologies driving different outcomes. No single outcome is necessarily equally important for all people. Increasingly recognized as a disease of the whole joint, OA affects articular cartilage, subchondral bone, and synovium, resulting in a clinical syndrome in which pain is predominant.