Arthroscopic washout of the knee: A procedure in decline

Abstract

Background: Osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee is a chronic, progressive condition which often requires

Changes in rates of arthroscopy due to degenerative knee disease and traumatic meniscal tears in Finland and Sweden

“…These findings are consistent with ours, as the data were extracted from a National Patient Register in a Scandinavian country similar to those in the current bi-national study. Moreover, Lazic et al (2014) reported a similar increase in meniscus surgery for patients over 65 years of age in the UK between 2000 and 2012. In the present study, the incidence of surgery for degenerative meniscal tears increased in Finland from 1997 to 2007, but not in Sweden.…”

“…In the UK, the incidence of arthroscopic meniscal resections more than doubled from 2000 to 2012 in patients over 60 years of age (Lazic et al 2014). Similarly, in Denmark the number of meniscal procedures in patients aged 35 years or more increased during the period 2000–2011 (Thorlund et al 2014).…”

Knee arthroscopy: influence of systems for delivering healthcare on procedure rates

“…8 The data were presented for the four arthroscopic codes separately. We re-evaluated the data presented and found that although rates of arthroscopic irrigations had fallen, this reduction was dwarfed by a large increase in the number of arthroscopic meniscal resections, resulting in an overall increase in procedures.…”

Translating evidence-based sports medicine into clinical practice: time to point the finger at doctors as much as at patients with respect to knee arthroscopy

“…A cynic may suggest that in countries such as Australia and the USA, where many surgeons have a strong personal financial incentive to operate, non-medical decisions may be acting as a barrier to reducing knee arthroscopy. However, in countries where the financial incentive to surgeons is less, recent reports have yet shown an increase in knee arthroscopies, such as in Denmark,8 and a marginal drop only in the UK 9. In other words, it is not just the profit motive of surgeons leading to the high rate of this operation.…”