Arthroscopic Knee Surgery In Not As Effective As You Think!

Arthroscopic knee surgery is one of the most utilized surgical procedures for knee pain patients. Yearly, hundreds of thousands of patients go through arthroscopic knee surgery for meniscal tears, debridement of degenerated knees, and osteoarthritic knees. However, studies have found arthroscopic knee surgery to be ineffective for patients with knee pain. Moreover, researchers recommend conservative therapy programs instead of invasive procedures currently being used for patients with knee pain.

This article will provide information on arthroscopic knee surgery, its uses, and its outcomes. Also, we will inform you of the best alternatives to arthroscopic knee surgery. Moreover, we will elaborate on why arthroscopic surgery is not as effective as you have been made to think it is?

The Knee Joint Is One Of The First Joints To Degenerate

You need your knees for a healthy, active life. Knee problems are one of the most common complaints associated with quality of life. We depend on our knees from the moment we get up in the morning until it is time to go back to bed. Unfortunately, some take their knees for granted, and they only pay heed when it limits them or hinders their favorite pastime.

The knees are the most commonly injured joints, and they are also one of the first to degenerate. Knee problems are mechanical disorders that result from trauma or excessive stress. A degenerated knee can also be described as an osteoarthritic knee or “wear in tear” arthritis. Osteoarthritis or needy generations occur when the cartilage between the joints tear down, exposing the bone beneath. Frequently, meniscal tears and meniscal injuries are a prelude to knee degenerations or arthritis. Invasive treatments such as corticosteroid injections, hyaluronic acid injections, end arthroscopic knee surgery procedures have all been found and effective.

The Real Story On Corticosteroid Injections

In recent years, the use of steroid injections for knee patients has increased. Doctors often recommend three to four steroid injections in a year. It was not until 2019 when the impact of corticosteroids was finally brought and to light. The published study in the journal of Radiology (October 15th, 2019) reported significant and alarming consequences and the knee joints of patients treated with corticosteroid injections.

This peer-reviewed published study advises patients and doctors to be careful in their approach to corticosteroid injections. They cite severe and accelerated degenerative changes in joints of patients that were injected with steroids. Moreover, the researchers elaborate further by reporting steroids’ soft tissue, joint, and bone destruction. As such, they recommend a noninvasive approach.

How Effective Is The Arthroscopic Knee Surgery?

Studies from North America and Europe have exposed the alarming failure rates of Arthroscopic knee surgery! Researchers are now calling it more damaging than helpful. In other words, the chance of making your knees degenerate faster; becoming more painful is higher compared to its acclaimed successes! You don’t have to take our word for it; we have listed two of these studies below for your review:

1. BMJ: A 180-year-old medical journal reported the following: “We make a strong recommendation against the use of arthroscopy in nearly all patients with degenerative knee disease, based on linked systematic reviews; further research is unlikely to alter this recommendation.”
2. NEJM (the New England Journal of Medicine): Here is what the New England Journal of Medicine mentioned in their conclusion:“In this trial involving patients without knee osteoarthritis but with symptoms of a degenerative medial meniscus tear, the outcomes after arthroscopic partial meniscectomy were no better than those after a sham surgical procedure.” 

If the research above is correct, how is it that researchers are still reporting favorable outcomes with arthroscopic knee surgery? Of course, this piqued and awakened our interest and what we have discovered explains why there are discrepancies in published studies in the next section of this article.

Discrepancies Between Favorable & Unfavorable Outcomes

As mentioned, researchers and published studies are now questioning the effectiveness of arthroscopic knee surgery. Today, there are thousands of published studies that report arthroscopic knee surgery is effective. However, upon close inspection of these published reports, you will notice the patients who were surgically treated were provided with several weeks or months of post-operative physiotherapy and rehabilitation programs. 

No wonder they improved! The improved because of the rehab and not surgery. If surgery is such a great option, why don’t these researchers publish their reports on surgery alone!  

We have yet to discover a published study that reports the arthroscopic knee surgery as successful when it was given as a standalone therapy or treatment program—in other words, published research where the patient received the minimally invasive arthroscopic procedure alone and without any post-surgical rehabilitation. 

The New England Journal of medicine is the only published study where arthroscopic knee surgery was studied and compared to a sham procedure and physiotherapy rehabilitation. In short, NEMJ compared the successes of a real surgery to a fake surgery and a non-surgical approach through physiotherapy or physical therapy rehabilitation. They discovered no difference between the fake and the real arthroscopic knee surgical procedure. However, they reported significant improvements in patients who received non-invasive physiotherapy (physical therapy) knee rehabilitation.

What Does The Research Tell You & What’s The Real Story?

A review of the literature and published studies confirm that noninvasive rehabilitation of knee pain is better when compared to arthroscopic knee surgery. Also, if you are going to get arthroscopic knee surgery, be prepared to spend two or more months in post-surgical rehab. You need to spend two months in rehab because no published studies report this surgery as effective when given by itself. 

Our final thought on arthroscopic knee surgery is to avoid it! You are more likely a better candidate for noninvasive and non-surgical conservative measures that combines physiotherapy with chiropractic. Chiropractic Specialty Center® offers focused, therapeutic measures to help you recover naturally with advanced methods of sophisticated therapy devices. If the noninvasive route fails, you can always opt for invasive techniques.

What Did NEJM Say About It?

Arthroscopic surgery is a waste of time, and they don’t work on meniscal issues. That is what a group of highly accomplished professor doctors reported in their published multi-clinic research. Their research is reshaping the world. Your orthopedic surgeon may not be happy about it, but your knees will love it. They don’t have to be cut on to get better!

To quote this study, “…the outcomes after arthroscopic partial meniscectomy were no better than those after a sham surgical procedure.”

In other words, fake (bogus) meniscus surgery works every bit as well as actual surgery.  

What Is An Alternative To Arthroscopic Knee Surgery In Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia?

Here at Chiropractic Specialty Center®, we have a lot of experience treating meniscus problems in our knee patients. Even the part of the Meniscus that isn’t supposed to heal will heal if you give it a chance and the proper treatment. Come in and let us show you how.   

Chiropractic Specialty Center® Offers the Best Non-surgical Knee Treatment in KL

Unlike competing centers, we have knee therapy protocols that we follow. Our knee treatment protocols involve specific chiropractic adjustments, focused customized physiotherapy coupled with focused knee rehabilitation, and targeted exercises. Best of all, we will not pressure you into plans or sell you expensive useless braces. With our assistance, you are more likely to reclaim your life and enjoy living an active, healthy life again. 

We have several locations throughout the Klang Valley by calling our main office on 03 2093 1000. Get the best knee treatment in Malaysia without injections or arthroscopic knee surgery in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.