Therapeutic and protective effects of pharmacological agents on femoral head osteonecrosis

Abstract

A variety of pharmacological agents are available for the treatment of osteonecrosis of the femoral head. Nonetheless, several controversies are associated with their clinical use. Various electronic databases such as Medline (1999-2019) and EMBASE (1999-2019) were searched for an extensive literature review in English using various keywords including, femoral head osteonecrosis and pharmacological treatments together. The retrieved publications were carefully reviewed to find out the efficacy and safety of the pharmacological agents used for the treatment of femoral head osteonecrosis. The presently used pharmacological treatments in clinical practice for femoral head osteonecrosis included iloprost, enoxaparin, bisphosphonates, and statins. Nonetheless, studies have reported poor efficacy and several undesired effects of these agents. None of the high-level studies recommended the therapeutic and protective use of pharmacological agents in the treatment of osteonecrosis of the femoral head.