The Effect of ColcHicine on the Incidence of Knee or Hip Replacements

Inclusion Criteria: * clinical diagnosis of knee or hip OA * 45 ≤ age ≤ 80 (upper age limit is similar to that in the LoDoCo2 trial and takes in consideration the lower number of joint replacements in people older than 80 years) * documented radiographic changes typical for advanced knee/hip OA (Kellgren \& Lawrence score ≥ 2), or at least 2-year history of complaints due to OA in the hip and/or knee Exclusion Criteria: * On a waiting list for primary joint replacement surgery of the hip or knee, irrespective of cause * Any absolute contraindication for knee or hip replacement in the future * More than one previous hip or knee replacements * Other known medical disease that may affect joints * Known generalized pain syndromes such as fibromyalgia * Renal impairment as evidenced by serum creatinine \>150µmol/l or estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) \<50mL/min/1.73m2 * Liver function impairment as evidenced by serum alanine transferase (ALAT) \> 3 ULN (upper limit of normal) * Blood dyscrasia * High frailty (clinical frailty scale ≥ 7) or predicted life expectancy \< 5 years * Peripheral neuritis, myositis or marked myo-sensitivity to statins * Current use of colchicine for another indication * Intolerance to colchicine * use of macrolide antibiotics (i.e. clarithromycin, erythromycin, azithromycin), antimycotics (i.e. ketoconazole, itraconazole and voriconazole), protease inhibitors \& anti-retroviral drugs (i.e. ritonavir, lopinavir, tipranavir, atazanavir, darunav…