Findings published in the British Medical Journal revealed that exercise was just as effective for recovering from a meniscal tear than knee surgery.
Although the study was relatively small in scale, the findings are quite captivating. For their study, researchers conducted a randomized controlled trial involving 140 patients with a degenerative medial meniscal tear that was confirmed by MRI. Furthermore, researchers controlled for the degenerative condition osteoarthritis by ensuring only four percent of patients had osteoarthritis (again confirmed through MRI).
The patients were separated into two groups, with one half receiving a supervised 12-week exercise program and the other half receiving arthroscopic knee surgery followed by daily at-home exercises. Researchers tested patients’ thigh muscle strength at 12 weeks and 12 months, and they later recorded patient-reported knee functions at 2 years.
Exercise Vs. Surgery Results
After looking at the results, researchers noticed that the two operations produced similar results, suggesting that patients with meniscal tears may be able to avoid surgery. Here’s a look at the results:
- The authors found no difference at self-reported knee function at the two-year mark.
- Patients in the exercise group reported greater muscle strength at both the 12-week and 12-month intervals.
- Those in the exercise group reported significantly fewer symptoms like mechanical problems, swelling and decreased range of motion.
- 19 percent of participants crossed over from the exercise group to the surgery group during the 2-year follow-up, but they showed no additional benefits.
“Our results should encourage clinicians and middle aged patients with degenerative meniscal tear and no definitive radiographic evidence of osteoarthritis to consider supervised exercise therapy as a treatment option,” the authors write.
Could Prevent Millions of Surgeries
The findings stand to have a large impact on the medical world, as roughly 2 million people worldwide undergo a knee arthroscopy operation each year, even though outcomes may not be any more beneficial than good old fashion exercise.
Some surgeons disagree and suggest that the controlled program doesn’t simulate the rigors of the outside world, but the study authors disagree.
“We are at the point where any careful scrutiny, by, for instance, public health administrators or officials of an insurance company, would conclude that the estimated two million arthroscopic partial meniscectomies undertaken globally each year at a cost of several billion US dollars is potentially nothing but medical waste,” they write.