Minimal benefits from paracetamol for the treatment of osteoarthritis of the knee or hip

Paracetamol provided only minimal improvements in pain and function for people with hip or knee osteoarthritis, with no increased risk of adverse events overall (high-quality evidence). Subgroup analysis indicated that the effects on pain and function did not differ according to the dose of paracetamol. Due to the small number of events, it was less certain whether paracetamol use increased the risk of serious adverse events, withdrawals due to adverse events or rate of abnormal liver function tests. On average, participants in the studies were aged between 55 and 70, and most presented with knee osteoarthritis. The paracetamol treatment dose ranged from 1.95g/day to 4g/day, and participants were followed for 1–12 weeks in all but one study, which followed participants for 24 weeks.