Physical Therapy For Knee Pain Shown to be as Effective as Surgery

A study recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine and presented this week by its author to a conference of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons found that physical therapy can be as effective in treating a torn meniscus (a cartilage disc in the knee) as arthroscopic surgery when comparing results after a 6-month period. It should go without saying that PT is considerably less expensive than surgery, as well. If the medical journal is a little dense for you, here’s a summary from the AP by way of the Salt Lake Tribune.

The AP article quotes Rachelle Buchbinder, an expert on preventative medicine at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, as saying she  feels that the study should prompt a change in practice for physicians. She is further quoted as saying that PT should be the first approach for an injury to the meniscus, with invasive surgery reserved for the minority of patients who do not respond to therapy.

This study backs up the experience of the clinicians at Pinnacle, but it’s always nice to have the data on your side.