{"id":950148,"date":"2026-05-10T09:33:23","date_gmt":"2026-05-10T09:33:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/950148\/"},"modified":"2026-05-10T09:33:23","modified_gmt":"2026-05-10T09:33:23","slug":"this-common-knee-surgery-may-be-doing-more-harm-than-good","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/950148\/","title":{"rendered":"This Common Knee Surgery May Be Doing More Harm Than Good"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Hand<\/a>A major 10-year study suggests a widely used knee surgery may do more harm than good. Credit: Shutterstock<\/p>\n

A 10-year follow-up of the FIDELITY trial, which was controlled with placebo surgery, found that partial meniscectomy does not improve patients\u2019 symptoms or function.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Partial meniscectomy, a procedure that trims a degenerated meniscus, is among the most frequently performed orthopedic surgeries worldwide. Although its use has dropped sharply in Finland in recent years, the operation is still widely used in many other countries.<\/p>\n

A 10-year follow-up study found that partial meniscectomy did not improve symptoms or knee function when compared with sham surgery. In fact, patients who received partial meniscectomy had more symptoms, poorer function, greater progression of osteoarthritis, and a higher likelihood of later knee surgery than those who underwent sham surgery.<\/p>\n

The Finnish Degenerative Meniscal Lesion Study (FIDELITY) is notable for both its design and its duration. It included a sham surgery control group and followed patients for 10 years. Participants with degenerative meniscal tears were randomized to receive either partial meniscectomy or sham surgery.<\/p>\n

A common surgery faces reversal<\/p>\n

Teppo J\u00e4rvinen, Professor at the University of Helsinki and the principal investigator of the FIDELITY, emphasizes the broader importance of the findings:<\/p>\n

\u201cOur findings suggest that this may be an example of what is known as a medical reversal, where broadly used therapy proves ineffective or even harmful.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe surgery is based on the assumption that pain in the inside of the knee is caused by a medial meniscus tear, which can be treated surgically. Such reasoning \u2013 assumption based on biological credibility \u2013 is still very common in medicine but in this case, the assumption does not withstand critical examination. Based on current understanding, pain in various joints, such as the knee joint in this case, is related to degeneration brought about by aging,\u201d says Raine Sihvonen, Specialist in Orthopaedics and Traumatology and the other principal investigator of the FIDELITY study.<\/p>\n

Concerns about the adverse effects of surgery<\/p>\n

Recent registry and observational studies have raised concerns that partial meniscectomy may cause harm. These data have linked the procedure with a risk of arthroplasty, or joint replacement surgery, and possibly a higher risk of postoperative complications. However, observational evidence is indirect by nature and cannot prove cause and effect.<\/p>\n

\u201cSeveral randomized studies have already demonstrated that partial meniscectomy has not improved patients\u2019 symptoms or function in the short (1\u20132 years) or medium (5 years) term. Regardless, the procedure has remained widely used in many countries,\u201d says Doctoral Researcher and Specialist in Orthopaedics and Traumatology, Dr. Roope Kalske.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor nearly a decade, many independent, non-orthopedic organizations providing clinical guidelines have recommended that the procedure should be discontinued. Still, for example, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) and the British Association for Surgery of the Knee (BASK) have continued to endorse the surgery.<\/p>\n

This effectively illustrates how difficult it is to give up inefficient therapies,\u201d J\u00e4rvinen sums up.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe study conducted in five hospitals is an example of smooth multicenter collaboration, as well as the commitment of research patients to an interesting project. Of the original 146 participants, more than 90% took part in the final stage of the study,\u201d says the research manager Pirjo Toivonen.<\/p>\n

Reference: \u201cArthroscopic Partial Meniscectomy for Degenerative Tear \u2014 10-Year Outcomes\u201d by Roope Kalske, Raine Sihvonen, Mika Paavola, Antti Malmivaara, Ari It\u00e4l\u00e4, Antti Joukainen, Juha Kalske, Heikki Nurmi, Pirjo Toivonen, Niko Sillanp\u00e4\u00e4, Tommi Kiekara, Aleksandra Turkiewicz, Martin Englund, Simo Taimela and Teppo L.N. J\u00e4rvinen, 29 April 2026, New England Journal of Medicine.
DOI: 10.1056\/NEJMc2516079<\/a><\/p>\n

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