The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (American). 2006;88:936-943.
doi:10.2106/JBJS.D.02671
© 2006 The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, Inc.
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Arthroscopic Débridement for Osteoarthritis of the Knee

Roy K. Aaron, MD1, Adam H. Skolnick, MD2, Steven E. Reinert, MS3 and Deborah McK. Ciombor, PhD4

1 Department of Orthopaedics, Brown Medical School, 100 Butler Drive, Providence, RI 02906. E-mail address: roy_aaron{at}brown.edu
2 Department of Internal Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, 330 Brookline Avenue, Boston, MA 02215
3 Department of Medical Computing, Rhode Island Hospital, The Coro Building, 167 Point Street, Suite 245, Providence, RI 02903
4 Orthopaedic Research Laboratory, Department of Orthopaedics, Brown Medical School, Coro West 4th Floor, One Hoppin Street, Providence, RI 02903

Investigation performed at the Department of Orthopaedics, Brown Medical School, Providence, Rhode Island

In support of their research for or preparation of this manuscript, one or more of the authors received grants or outside funding from the National Institutes of Health (grant AR 02128). None of the authors received payments or other benefits or a commitment or agreement to provide such benefits from a commercial entity. No commercial entity paid or directed, or agreed to pay or direct, any benefits to any research fund, foundation, educational institution, or other charitable or nonprofit organization with which the authors are affiliated or associated.

Background: The role of arthroscopic débridement in the treatment of osteoarthritis of the knee remains to be defined, and few clinical and radiographic characteristics have been quantitatively associated with the outcome. The hypothesis of this study was that the outcome of arthroscopic débridement for osteoarthritis of the knee is associated with preoperative clinical and radiographic features and intraoperative characteristics and that there are subsets of patients who are more and less likely to respond favorably to the treatment.

Methods: We performed a cross-sectional study of a consecutive cohort of 122 patients who underwent arthroscopic débridement for the treatment of osteoarthritis of the knee that had been unresponsive to anti-inflammatory therapy. One hundred and ten patients were followed for a mean of thirty-four months. Pain was assessed with the pain domain of the Knee Society scoring system. Radiographs were scored with the Kellgren-Lawrence method, and limb alignment and the widths of the medial and lateral joint spaces were measured. The severity of cartilage lesions was scored intraoperatively with a modified Noyes grading system. Specific methods of data collection and analysis were incorporated to minimize bias.

Results: Fifty-two (90%) of fifty-eight knees with mild arthritis, normal alignment, and a joint space width of ≥3 mm were improved after arthroscopic débridement. Conversely, only five (25%) of twenty knees with severe arthritis, limb malalignment, and a joint space width of <2 mm had substantial relief of symptoms. Of seventy-two patients who had improvement, forty-four (61%) had it within six months after the arthroscopy. The severity of the lesion was highly predictive of the clinical outcome both in patients with mild arthritis and in those with severe arthritis.

Conclusions: The severity of the arthritis, as assessed preoperatively with radiography and intraoperatively by rating the severity of cartilage lesions, influences the clinical outcome of arthroscopic débridement of an osteoarthritic knee. Knees with severe arthritis fare poorly, whereas those with mild arthritis fare well. We could not predict the outcome for knees with moderate arthritis. We believe that these observations are relevant for establishing indications for arthroscopy in patients with osteoarthritis of the knee and may be useful for designing studies with a more rigorous experimental design.

Level of Evidence: Prognostic Level II. See Instructions to Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.


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Arthroscopic Intervention for Osteoarthritis of the Knee
Munier Hossain
JBJS Online, 15 Jun 2006 [Full text]