Knee surgery had no benefit for osteoarthritis

Two studies raising doubts about the effectiveness of knee surgery were published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).


About 200 patients with moderate-to-severe osteoarthritis of the knee were randomly assigned to receive either surgery, drugs and physical therapy ( as treatment group with arthoscopic surgery ) or drugs and physical therapy alone ( as control group ). (1)


At the end of the study, researchers found that patients in the treatment group had slightly less pain than those in the control group after 3 months, but no significant differences between the two groups after 2 years. Researchers concluded that “arthroscopic surgery for osteoarthritis of the knee provides no additional benefit to optimized physical and medical therapy”. A previous study published in 2003 had similar results.

Another study in the same journal found that MRI scan of middle-age and older people show that meniscal tears in the knee are more common in this age group than previously thought and often without pain or stiffness. The author said "Clinicians who order MRI of the knee should take into account the high prevalence of incidental tears when interpreting the results and planning therapy". (2)


Source 1 :"A Randomized Trial of Arthroscopic Surgery for Osteoarthritis of the Knee." NEJM 2008; 359(11):1097-1107 ( abstract only)


Source 2: "Incidental Meniscal Findings on Knee MRI in Middle-Aged and Elderly Persons Volume" NEJM 2008. 359(11) :1108-1115 ( abstract only)