An assessment of the efficacy of arthroscopic debridement for osteoarthritis of the knee / 中国微创外科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To study the curative efficacy of arthroscopic debridement in the management of osteoarthritis of the knee. Methods A retrospective analysis was made on clinical records of 44 cases of knee osteoarthritis (62 knee joints) treated with arthroscopic debridement. Results All the patients were followed for 2~2.5 years. The rates of excellent or good results were 85.5% (53/62) at 6 months after the surgery, 77.4% (48/62) at 1 year after the surgery, and 66.1% (41/62) at 2 years, respectively. The curative results were significantly worse at 2 years after the surgery than at 6 months ( ? 2=6.332, P =0.012). Conclusions Arthroscopic debridement is effective for the relief of painful and swollen knee joint, and postpones the appearance of articular cartilage degeneration. The efficacy of the treatment is apparent in mild cases, but the treatment will be less effective as time goes on.