A study led by Soren Skou of Aalborg (Denmark) University Hospital and the University of Southern Denmark at Odense, compared surgical outcomes with nonsurgical treatments in patients with knee osteoarthritis, according to BusinessDay.
Fifty adults over the age of 60 received nonsurgical treatment for osteoarthritis, while the other half of the group received knee replacements. The New England Journal of Medicine published the study.
Here are three findings:
1. One-year postop, 85 percent of the surgical group reported improved pain levels, while 68 percent of the nonsurgical group reported pain improvement.
2. Jeffrey Katz, MD, of Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, said surgery will result in more pain relief, but that physical therapy clearly alleviates pain for many people, based on this study.
3. The results of the study suggest surgery should not be the first option for all patients suffering form osteoarthritis.
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