20 Jul Could Knee Surgery Be Placebo (3)

180 people were divided into three groups relating to three grades of OA, grade 1 being the mildest and grade 3 the most severe and then assigned one of three surgical options:
1. Debridement only (59)
2. Lavage only (61)
3. Placebo only (60)

For treatment options 1 and 2 there was a standard anaesthetic with endotracheal intubation. For the placebo group patients were given a short acting intravenous tranquiliser plus an opioid. No tracheal tube was used. The same orthopaedic surgeon did all procedures.
The lavage involved 10 litres of fluid being flushed through the joint. No instruments were used except where there was an obvious bucket-handle cartilage tear, when the torn portion was removed and the remaining meniscus removed.
The debridement involved a lavage of 10 litres, shaving of the rough articular cartilage, removal of loose debris, trimming of torn or degenerative cartilage and smoothing of remaining cartilage. There was no removal of bony spurs but any spurs from the tibial spine area that blocked full extension were removed.

Results to follow!