Evidence based Orthopedics: Arthroscopic surgery for knee OA provides no additional benefit to physical and medical therapy alone ...

Arthroscopic surgery for knee OA provides no additional benefit to physical and medical therapy alone

178 patients >18 yr of age with moderate-to-severe osteoarthritis of the knee were randomly assigned to surgical lavage and arthroscopic debridement together with optimized physical and medical therapy or to treatment with physical and medical therapy alone. Arthroscopic surgery for knee OA provided no additional clinical or symptomatic benefit over optimized physical and medical therapy.

N Engl J Med. 2008 Sep 11;359(11):1097-107.