What You Should Know About Knee Surgery

Most of us start getting creaky knees as we get older.  Some of our knees just creak here and there and other creak all the time.  Others creak and hurt too often, usually as a result of osteoarthritis.

This is actually an uncomfortable situation, but it is normal for these symptoms to begin to happen to us between age 45 and 55 and develop into chronic problems after age 60.

Medicare used to pay for arthroscopic surgery on the knee to address the issue of osteoarthritis.  In 2002, a study was done stating that there was no better improvement in the knees of patients who had arthroscopic surgery than there was in those who simply had physical therapy and used ibuprofen and other medications.

Many doctors and patients were quite unhappy with the fact that this study prompted Medicare to stop covering the procedure.  They felt that this particular study, which was performed on about 175 men, was too limited to make such a sweeping decision which affected hundreds of thousands of Medicare recipients.  Medicare finally has the results of another study performed by Boston University School of Medicine and a separate study performed by the University of Western Ontario in Canada. 

The results of both recent studies confirm the results of the 2002 study: arthroscopic knee surgery for osteoarthritis is over-performed and does no better than physical therapy and medication.  Of the nearly 1300 participants in the studies, the individuals who received physical therapy reported that they felt better and had less pain after receiving physical therapy, taking anti-inflammatory medication and sometimes using glucosamine.  The results of those who had arthroscopic surgery were exactly the same.

The biggest difference was that the bill for the surgery alone is about $5,000 or more, plus any doctors fees, lab and hospital fees and other ancillary fees.  That is much more than some physical therapy, exercises the patient can do at home and medication.  In addition, the studies show that the procedure is unnecessary.

In some cases arthroscopic surgery is warranted, and certainly, in some more severe situations arthroscopic or other knee surgery would be appropriate.  It is important to get a second opinion and to try physical therapy and other treatment before you opt for arthroscopic surgery.  There are two reasons: first, experts are saying that it doesn’t work and some doctors are simply making money on the procedure.  Second, Medicare will not pay for it.

So, if your knees are creaking or hurting, or both, look into your options to determine what will be best for you.

Filed under: General-Medicare

Tags: arthroscopic knee surgery, arthroscopic surgery, General-Medicare, medicaid, osteoarthritis, surgery