The increasing prevalence of osteoarthritis (OA), due mainly to ageing and lifestyle risk factors (obesity, sedentarity and sport injuries) heightens the importance of addressing OA rehabilitation in the practice of physical medicine and rehabilitation (PRM). Non-pharmacological interventions are now the first-line OA therapies worldwide . Thus, the number of patients referred to PMR physicians is expected to increase in the future. PMR physicians have to play a pivotal role in the management of OA especially with respect to biomechanical and exercise interventions and self-care enhancement.

Eight years ago, the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation French Society (Sofmer) in association with Rheumatology French Society (SFR) and Orthopaedic French Society (SOFCOT) proposed specific guidelines concerning non-pharmacological treatments based on a novel methodology involving not only evidence-based data but also physician daily practice and thereby to bridge evidence-based medicine with evidence-based practice . To our knowledge, these guidelines were the first to provide both precise and practical recommendations related to exercise, orthoses and perioperative management of OA.

After the publication of these guidelines, the Annals of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine has featured papers on both medical and surgical management of OA including published studies concerning various topics such as assessment of OA , spa therapy and rehabilitation and orthoses .

This special issue on OA covers a wide range of subjects from bench to bedside. The first subject relates to epidemiologic aspects of OA, particularly burden of disease (Palazzo C). The second addresses some fundamental aspects of disease and perspectives for the future (Guicheux J, Henrontin Y, Musumeci G, Duclos M). The third focuses on OA imaging (Guermazi A) and intra-articular injections (Nguyen C). Fourth, a number of articles focus on non-pharmacological treatments like exercise (Nguyen C), physical activity (Lefevre-Colau MM), self-care (Gay C) and spa therapy (Forestier R) and new approaches to rehabilitation (Coudeyre E). The barriers and facilitators related to implementation of these therapies are also discussed. Finally, the topics of conservative surgical treatments and joint replacement (de l’Escalopier N) are addressed. Future research opportunities and needs in OA are also highlighted particularly as they relate to OA pathophysiology and exercise prescriptions personalized to patient phenotypes.

We hope that this special issue will be of interest for the OA world community. It is further hoped that this large review will assist physicians involved in OA management worldwide to better understand this disease and to improve their everyday treatment practices.