Study finds common knee surgery no better than placebo

Study finds common knee surgery no better than placeboHOUSTON--(July 10, 2002)--Patients with osteoarthritis of the knee who underwent placebo arthroscopic surgery were just as likely to report pain relief as those who received the real procedure, according to a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and Baylor College of Medicine study published in the July 11 New England Journal of Medicine.
The researchers say their results challenge the usefulness of one of the most common surgical procedures performed for osteoarthritis of the knee.

"The fact that the effectiveness of arthroscopic lavage or debridement in patients with osteoarthritis of the knee is no greater than that of placebo surgery makes us question whether the dollars spent on these procedures might not be put to better use," said lead investigator Dr. Nelda P. Wray, a health services researcher at the Houston VA Medical Center and Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.

In the study, 180 patients with knee pain were randomized into three groups. One group received debridement, in which worn, torn, or loose cartilage is cut away and removed with the aid of a pencil-thin viewing tube called an arthroscope. The second group underwent arthroscopic lavage, in which the bad cartilage is flushed out. The third group underwent simulated arthroscopic surgery; small incisions were made, but no instruments were inserted and no cartilage removed."

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Anissa Anderson Orr
Baylor College of Medicine