Arthroscopic surgery is commonly used to treat meniscal damage in the knee, but evidence suggests it offers little benefit for people with knee osteoarthritis. A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine compared arthroscopic surgery plus physical and medical therapy with physical and medical therapy alone in patients with moderate to severe knee osteoarthritis. Eighty-six patients were assigned to each group.
After two years of follow-up, there was no difference between the groups in pain relief, functional improvement, or quality of life. Patients who did not undergo surgery did just as well as those who did.
These findings confirmed earlier results from another New England Journal of Medicine study published in 2002, which also found no meaningful advantage of arthroscopic surgery over conservative treatment for osteoarthritis of the knee.
