September 18, 2008 – Arthroscopy of the knee is no more effective than physiotherapy combined with taking anti-inflammatory drugs, in relieving the pain of osteoarthritis of the knee, nor in improving the functioning of the joint.
This is the conclusion of Canadian researchers who conducted a study of 188 adults with moderate to severe osteoarthritis of the knee, to conduct their study.1.
All participants were assigned to a physiotherapy program, combined with anti-inflammatory drugs. Half of them were randomly selected to undergo knee arthroscopy.
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For two years, all were followed in order to measure the effectiveness of their respective treatment. However, at the end of the follow-up, the reduction in osteoarthritis symptoms was similar in the two groups, as was the perceived improvement in joint function.
Specifically, after two years, patients treated for surgery had an average score of 874 on a symptom scale called WOMAC.2, which ranges between 0 and 2,400. In the other patients, it was 897 – a non-significant difference, according to the researchers.3.
According to lead researcher Dr Brian Feagan, these results confirm those obtained in a similar study, conducted in the United States and published six years ago.
“Our results call into question the widespread use of arthroscopy to treat osteoarthritis of the knee,” he concludes.
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Martin LaSalle – PasseportSanté.net
1. Kirkley A, Birmingham VG, et al, A randomized trial of arthroscopic surgery for osteoarthritis of the knee, New England Journal of Medicine, September 11, 2008, Vol. 359, no 11, 1097-107.
2. WOMAC stands for Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index, an index developed by these two institutions that is frequently used by researchers around the world to measure the intensity of arthritis symptoms in patients.
3. Before the operation, this result was just over 1000 in both groups, slightly higher than the threshold for diagnosing moderate to severe osteoarthritis of the knee.