At the Texas Knee Institute, our interventional radiologists in Houston and Dallas ease arthritis pain in the knee by performing Genicular Artery Embolization (GAE.) This is a minimally invasive procedure that reduces both pain and inflammation by limiting the flow of blood to your knee’s synovial lining. But how effective is this non-surgical procedure at relieving your knee pain due to osteoarthritis? Well, the numbers are in, and they’re pretty promising!
Interventional radiology is a relatively new field of medicine. As such, long term data on the efficacy of GAE for reducing the pain of knee osteoarthritis is somewhat limited. But the evidence we do have is very promising.
At the Society of Interventional Radiology’s 2021 Annual Scientific Meeting, researchers presented findings on how well GAE was able to ease arthritis pain one year after patients underwent the procedure. The study followed 40 adults between the ages of 40 and 80 who needed knee pain relief due to mild to moderate osteoarthritis. Here’s what they found.
To begin with, one year after having GAE, patients enjoyed a 63% decrease in their personal pain scores. Moreover, their WOMAC osteoarthritis index scores had decreased by 60% at the one-year, post-procedural mark. (The WOMAC, or Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Arthritis Index, evaluates progression of hip and knee osteoarthritis by assessing stiffness, pain and ability to function physically on a daily basis. A lower score reflects improved mobility due to reduced pain and stiffness.)
Even better? None of the patients included in the study experienced major side effects. And the few who did, the adverse events were minor and mostly self-resolving. Plus, in light of the fact that the procedure was a technical success for 100% of the participants, lead study author Siddharth A. Padia, MD, FSIR says that, with GAE, interventional radiologists now have “the potential to completely disrupt and change the way patients are treated with knee osteoarthritis.”
Want to ease arthritis pain without subjecting yourself to an invasive procedure like knee replacement surgery? Genicular Artery Embolization at the Texas Knee Institute could be the procedure you’ve been waiting for. And, to find out if that’s the case, simply click here to request a consultation click here to request a consultation click here to request a consultation with our experts.
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