This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Study: Patients have similar satisfaction, symptoms after partial meniscectomy, placebo surgery
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
Patients who undergo surgical treatment for degenerative meniscal tears experience equally low incidence of symptoms and satisfaction with the overall outcome compared to patients in a placebo group, according to results of a recently published study.
“These results show that surgery is not an effective form of treatment in such cases. It is difficult to imagine that such a clear result would result in no change to treatment practices,” Teppo Jarvinen, MD, PhD, from the University of Helsinki and the Helsinki University Central Hospital, stated.
In a multicenter, randomized, double-blind sham-controlled trial, researchers randomly assigned 146 patients age 35 years to 65 years who had knee symptoms consistent with a degenerative medial meniscus tear or no knee osteoarthritis to either an arthroscopic partial meniscectomy group or a placebo surgery group where the procedure was simulated. Primary outcomes included changes in the Lysholm and Western Ontario Meniscal Evaluation Tool scores and in knee pain after exercise at 12 months after the procedure.
Researchers found no significant differences in the change from baseline to 12 months in any primary outcome in the intention-to-treat analysis. Researchers also found no significant differences between groups in the number of patients who required subsequent knee surgery or serious adverse events.
Patients were asked about the healing of the knee, symptoms and satisfaction with the treatment 1 year after surgery. Overall, most patients in both groups were satisfied with the status of their knee and believed their knee felt better than before the procedure. Of the patients who underwent the partial meniscectomy, 93% reported they would choose the same treatment vs. 96% of patients in the placebo group.
“Based on these results, we should question the current line of treatment according to which patients with knee pain attributed to a degenerative meniscus tear are treated with partial removal of the meniscus, as it seems clear that instead of surgery, the treatment of such patients should hinge on exercise and rehabilitation,” Jarvinen stated.
Disclosure: The research was supported by grants from the Sigrid Juselius Foundation, the Competitive Research Fund of Pirkanmaa Hospital District and the Academy of Finland.
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts