Pain in Osteoarthritis – Current Knowledge and Future Directions

Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis, with rising prevalence due to increasing level of obesity and increasing age in the general population. Osteoarthritis is characterized by pathology in numerous joint tissues, joint pain, functional limitations, and stiffness. X-ray imaging remains the gold standard to assess presence of osteoarthritis, but there is a well-recognized so-called structure-symptom discordance in osteoarthritis, suggesting that other factors are important for pain in osteoarthritis. This workshop will focus on three major contributors to pain in osteoarthritis namely: 1) cognitive factors (Robert Edwards, USA), 2) local processes in the joint (Hans-Georg Schaible, Germany) and: 3) the nervous system (Tuhina Neogi, USA). Each talk will give an in-depth state-of-the-art overview of the contributing factors to pain in osteoarthritis, deal with how the specific factors are associated to treatment outcomes, and provide evidence on the modulation of these factors. Pain in osteoarthritis is complex and often a combination of different factors interacting on each other, which provides a negative impact on the pain experienced by the patient. Each speaker will focus on a specific subarea of pain in osteoarthritis, but will bring in examples of other factors of interest (such as comorbidities, genetics, or demographic data).