It is incredibly hard to change routine medical practice, even when new evidence says that it does not help, and may even harm. A new study shows that a commonly done surgery called partial meniscectomy for knee cartilage damage (meniscal tears) actually does not help and may harm long-term.
The research (just published in the New England Journal of Medicine) found that people with knee meniscal tears who underwent surgery had more symptoms, poorer knee function, and worse osteoarthritis after 10 years, when compared to those who did not have the surgery. The study (146 patients followed for 10 years, 5 hospitals participating) was well done - the control group actually had "sham surgery", but did not actually get the procedure.
The actual surgery group did not appear to benefit and scored worse on a range of measures designed to measure knee function, pain, and progression of symptoms.
The results (and other studies having similar results) should result in a medical reversal regarding how frequently the procedure is done. But it is very hard for the medical establishment to change course, and also all that lucrative $$ from doing the procedure.
From Medical Xpress: One of the world's most common knee surgeries does not help and may even be harmful
Partial meniscectomy does not improve patient symptoms or function, reveals a 10-year follow-up of the FIDELITY, a placebo-surgery controlled trial published in the New England Journal of Medicine. ...continue reading "Common Knee Operation May Be Unnecessary"