Objective To compare the therapeutic effect of intraarticular injection with sodium hyaluronate (SH) and SH combined with triamcinolone acetonide for osteoarthritis (OA) of knee joint.Methods Eighty-two patients with OA of knee joint were divided into two groups by toss a coin from March 2010 to March 2011.Forty-two patients simplely accepted SH injection (SH group),40 patients accepted SH combined with triamcinolone acetonide (combination group).Intraarticular injection was taken once a week,a total of 5 times.Efficacy measurements included visual analog scale (VAS) for pain and safety.Results After treatment for 1 week,the measured value of VAS for up and down stairs in combination group was significantly lower than that in SH group [ (22.6 ± 6.1 ) mm vs.(63.9 ± 5.8 ) mm] (P ＜ 0.05 ).After treatment for 3,6 months,the measured value of VAS for up and down stairs in two groups had no significant difference [ (42.2 ± 6.6) mm vs.(41.1 ± 5.3) mm,(48.5 ± 5.5) mm vs.(49.3 ± 6.2) mm] (P ＞ 0.05).Function of the knee joint after treatment was better than before treatment in two groups.Adverse effects were minimal. Conclusions Intraarticular injection of SH and SH combined with triamcinolone acetonide OA of knee joint is a safe and effective method.SH combined with triamcinolone acetonide can improve the efficacy in early period.