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Knee surgery may do more harm than good
PRINT ALL READINGS (PDF)Knee Surgery - Level 0
Thousands of people have knee surgery. A new study says this might be a waste of money. Some surgery can make knee problems worse. Doctors spent 10 years studying knee operations. They found that a lot of them did not work. Some operations increased knee damage. A doctor said patients can "have more pain".
In happier knee news, doctors have found a new way to help long-term knee pain. A doctor does operations that lower the flow of blood to painful areas. This lowers knee pain. The doctor says her method is better than drugs and therapy. She said her method could "provide years of relief".
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Knee Surgery - Level 1
Thousands of people have knee surgery. A new study says many surgeries might be a waste of money. Some knee surgery can make knee problems worse, not better. The researchers spent 10 years studying knee operations. They found that surgery on knee cartilage rarely worked. They added that some operations increased cartilage damage. One doctor said that patients who have this operation can "have more pain".
In happier knee news, doctors in the USA have found a new way to help long-term knee pain. One doctor has performed simple operations that lower the flow of blood to painful areas in the knee. This lowers swelling and pain. The doctor says her method is better than drugs and therapy. She also thinks people can avoid knee surgery. She said her method could "provide years of relief". She added that 70 per cent of patients have great results.
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Knee Surgery - Level 2
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Thousands of people have knee surgery. A new study from Finland says many of these people might be wasting their money. The surgeons who did the study said some knee surgery can make knee problems worse and not better. The surgeons spent 10 years studying knee operations. They found that surgery on knee cartilage rarely worked. The doctors said many of these operations were unnecessary. They added that some operations increased cartilage damage. One doctor said that patients who have this procedure "have more pain".
In happier knee news, doctors from a university in the USA have found a new way to help long-term knee pain. One doctor has performed simple operations. These involve reducing the flow of blood to painful areas in the knee. Less blood in those areas reduces swelling and pain. The doctor says her method is better than medicine and physical therapy. She also believes people can avoid knee surgery and knee replacements. She said her method could "provide years of relief" by reducing pain inside the knee joint. She said 70 per cent of patients have great results.
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Knee Surgery - Level 3
Hundreds of thousands of people have surgery on their knees. A new study from Finland says many of these people might be wasting their time and money. The surgeons who conducted the study said some knee surgery can make knee problems worse rather than better. The surgeons spent 10 years studying the results of knee operations. They found that surgery on tears in the knee cartilage rarely worked. The doctors said many of the operations were unnecessary. They added that some of the operations they looked at accelerated the rate of cartilage damage. One doctor said: "What has been shown dramatically is that patients who have this procedure have more pain."
In happier knee-related news, doctors from the University of Colorado have discovered a new method to treat chronic knee pain. Dr Leigh Casadaban has performed simple operations on people's knees. Her method involves reducing the flow of blood to pain-causing areas in the knee. Less blood in those areas reduces swelling and pain. Dr Casadaban says her method is more effective than painkilling medicine and physical therapy. She also believes it means people can avoid knee surgery, even total knee replacements. She said her method could "provide years of relief" by reducing pain inside the knee joint. She said 70 per cent of patients have amazing results.
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