Findings from a study published online in The American Journal of Sports Medicine suggest little longer-term benefit for knee arthroscopy performed in middle-aged patients with knee pain and meniscal lesions. 

The researchers conducted a randomized, controlled trial of 150 patients aged 45 to 64 years who were treated with either a 3-month exercise program or a 3-month exercise program plus one knee arthroscopic surgery within 4 weeks. At 3-year follow-up, both intention-to-treat and as-treated analyses revealed no significant difference across cohorts in change from baseline for the Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score pain subscore. Overall, a "factorial analysis of the effect of the intervention and age, onset of pain, and mechanical symptoms indicated that older patients improved more, regardless of treatment, and surgery may be more beneficial for patients without mechanical symptoms (as-treated analysis)," the researchers write. They note that a previously published study of the same patient cohorts found a reduction in pain for knee arthroscopic surgery patients at 1 year. Learn more...