POEM: Arthroscopy is not effective for the treatment of osteoarthritis

doi:10.1136/bmj.325.7372.0/h

BMJ 2002;325:0 ( 9 November )

Filler

POEM

Arthroscopy is not effective for the treatment of osteoarthritis

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Clinical question Does arthroscopic surgery improve outcomes for patients with osteoarthritis of theknee?

Synopsis This is one of the few studies in the literature to properly evaluate a surgical procedure. Patients withosteoarthritis of the knee, moderate pain, no recent arthroscopy,and no suspected ligament or meniscal problems were randomly assignedto either arthroscopy with lavage only, arthroscopy with lavageand debridement, or "sham arthroscopy." During the sham procedure,patients were mildly sedated, and the surgical team manipulatedthe knee, made small superficial incisions, and even made allof the noises that they would normally make during surgery. Patientswere followed for two years by properly blinded study personnel,and patients were not able to guess their treatment assignment.Allocation was properly concealed, and groups were similar atbaseline. Interestingly, all groups experienced an immediate improvementof 6-12 points on the 100 point knee specific pain scale. Paingradually increased in . . . [Full text of this article]