Monitoring osteoporosis treatment: DXA should not be routinely repeated.

摘要

Initiating treatment for osteoporosis is a relatively straightforward clinical decision; however, determining if the patient has responded to treatment is a complex issue. The goal of osteoporosis treatment is reducing the patient's fracture risk1 Bone mineral density (BMD), as measured by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA), is used as a surrogate marker for fracture risk; however, no studies have shown whether monitoring of therapy with repeat DXA actually reduces fractures. We believe that routine DXA to monitor therapy is unnecessary and a poor use of medical resources.