Surgery for Knee Osteoarthritis No Better Than Therapy, Meds

Sept. 11 -- WEDNESDAY, Sept. 10 (HealthDay News) -- Arthroscopic surgery to relieve osteoarthritis of the knee, a widely practiced procedure, proves no better than medicine and physical therapy alone, new research shows.

This is the second major study to call into question the benefits of the surgery, and it may well influence how patients are treated.

"There's going to be a swing in practice," said Dr. Brian Feagan, co-author of a study in the Sept. 11 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).

Fortunately, there are still considerable options available for the 27 million people in the United States who suffer from the condition.

"In this trial, both groups had optimized medical therapy, and both groups did not do too badly," added Feagan, director of Robarts Clinical Trials at the Robarts Research Institute at The University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario, Canada. "For severe disease, total joint replacement is a very effective form of therapy. This study de-emphasizes the middle step of arthroscopic surgery."

Other experts, however, say it would be a mistake to dismiss arthroscopy all together for arthritis.

"Arthroscopic surgery does not work well for patients with arthritis, but it does work well in certain select patients who do have arthritis but who also have another problem like torn meniscus [the area where the major bones of the leg connect]," said Dr. Robert Marx, author of an accompanying editorial and an orthopedic surgeon at New York City's Hospital for Special Surgery. "The classic example would be a patient saying their knee was hurting for five years, but three months ago, they stepped off a curb, and since then, it's been killing them. It's a different pain from the arthritis. . . . If we put it all together, there's a good chance with surgery, but we do need to temper their expectations."

"There's definitely still a role for arthroscopic treatment in arthritic knees, but it's really specific," said Dr. Robert Reeve, an assistant professor of surgery at Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine and director of the Division of Sports Medicine at Scott & White in Temple. "I think it's still useful for major meniscal tears but . . . [there is] good evidence that it's not very effective for arthritis or minor degenerative tears. There's still a role for arthroscopy in treating arthritic knees if there's a significant meniscus tear and the symptoms are consistent with that tear. The symptoms have to match the MRI."