The September 11 issue of New England Journal of Medicine presented a very interesting and yet not very encouraging study on arthroscopic surgery for osteoarthritis of the knee which was discovered to bring no benefits to physical and medical therapy whatsoever.

The study involved 178 men and women and found that those who underwent the surgery didn’t end up better than those who received medication and physical therapy only. The non-operative treatments included one physical therapy session every week for three months with a home physical therapy program, patient education, and the step-wise use of acetaminophen. The surgery on the other hand involves making small incisions in the knee, inserting an arthroscope to see the joint, and then cleansing the joint.

This study was really a follow up of a 2002 study which revealed that operations were no better than a sham procedure for arthritis. But it didn’t come out as credible because all the operations involved in the study were done by one surgeon, and the subjects, who were all men, tended to be older than the typical patient. As a result, many surgeons continued to perform the procedures.

The research was conducted by Brian Feagan of the University of Western Ontario. Feagan admitted however that knee surgeries may still be needed by other patients with other problems such as a badly torn ligament or cartilage.

He claims that his study is more credible than the previous one as it involved both men and women and patients who were 60 years old on average, which is more typical. Moreover this study followed its subjects’ evolution for two years.