This orthopedic surgery is the world’s most common. But patients rarely benefit, a panel says

The world’s most common orthopedic procedure — knee arthroscopy — is frequently a waste of time and money and should almost never be performed on patients with degenerative knee disease.

That’s the conclusion of an international panel that strongly recommends against arthroscopic surgery in a new guideline published by the BMJ. The panel found that, while performed 2 million times per year worldwide, knee arthroscopy offers minimal benefits to patients with degenerative knee disease, which affects about 25 percent of people older than 50.

The surgery’s persistence may have to do with a combination of financial incentives, patient frustration at more conservative approaches, and delays in incorporating new evidence into current practice, the panel said.

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