Operations on a worn meniscus are pointless in the vast majority of cases. There is also no single subcategory of patients that benefits more from such an operation than from physiotherapy, researchers at Radboud university medical center in Nijmegen conclude after research.
They advocate that from now on focus on prevention and physiotherapy and that this type of operation is only performed in exceptional, specific cases. “Only in the case of very clear complaints, such as a locked knee or when it is no longer possible to stretch the knee,” PhD student Stan Wijn explains his research in a statement.
Is common
The meniscus is a disc of cartilage in the knee. That can tear due to sport or wear. Such cracks are quite common and do not always cause complaints. Studies have often shown that prevention and physiotherapy are generally more useful than surgery. Nevertheless, operations on the meniscus are still frequently performed, because orthopedists often think they know for whom an operation is useful. According to the researchers, this is disappointing in practice. They subjected data from 605 patients from four studies to an extensive analysis.
Using artificial intelligence, the scientists examined whether there may be subgroups for which surgery does have added value. They let the computer make all kinds of combinations based on variables such as age, gender, BMI, location of the tear and knee function. This led to a clear outcome: no operation appeared to be better for any subgroup.
According to the researchers, 11 to 26 million euros can be saved annually by stopping nonsensical knee operations. One of their recommendations is that health insurers should stop paying for this type of treatment abroad. Because some patients who think that surgery is best move to other countries if they don’t get surgery in the Netherlands.
Free unlimited access to Showbytes? Which can!
Log in or create an account and don’t miss a thing of the stars.