Researchers from Hatanpää Hospital in Tampere, Finland, analyzed the effectiveness of surgery for patients with degenerative meniscus tears whose knees catch and lock, according to Medscape.
The researchers performed diagnostic knee arthroscopy on 146 patients. The patients aged between 35 years and 65 years, and had experienced knee pain for more than three months. Seventy patients received arthroscopic partial meniscectomy and 76 patients received sham surgery.
Annals of Internal Medicine published the study online on Feb. 9.
Here are six insights:
1. U.S. surgeons perform about 700,000 arthroscopic surgeries to treat knee pain caused by degenerative meniscus tears. These surgeries are performed because the meniscus blocks the knee.
2. The researchers collected answers from patients about their knees pre-surgery. Patients could report their knees had "no locking or catching," "catching but no locking," "occasional locking," or "locked at present." For accuracy, the researchers asked the patients the same question two weeks later.
3. Forty-nine percent of the meniscectomy group and 43 percent of the sham surgery group reported mechanical problems post-surgery.
4. Further, 72 percent of patients who received partial meniscectomies and 59 percent of patients who received sham surgery said they experienced mechanical symptoms.
5. Ultimately, patients receiving arthroscopic partial meniscectomies or sham surgery experienced similar results.
6. The study authors concluded physicians should be wary of only using self-reported mechanical symptoms as an indication for arthroscopic partial meniscectomy.