Arthroscopic surgery for relief of pain in the osteoarthritic knee

This retrospective study reviews 43 patients with osteoarthritis of the knee who underwent arthroscopic surgery, from January 1979 until April 1982. Percutaneous drilling of an osteochondral defect in the femoral condyle was performed in 22 patients to relieve the high intraosseous pressure and rest pain associated with this disease; successful results were recorded in 80% of patients at an average followup of 25.1 months. Partial meniscectomy was performed in 21 patients to remove an obstructing degenerative meniscal tear; 81% had successful results with an average followup of 40.6 months. There were no postoperative complications. Percutaneous drilling and excision of degenerative meniscal tears can be valuable arthroscopic procedures in properly selected patients with osteoarthritis of the knee.