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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Science
Hannah Devlin Science correspondent

UNCOVERED: Knee surgery for cartilage damage does not benefit patients study suggests - The Untold Story

Person with bandaged knee standing with crutches at home.
Many independent, non-orthopaedic organisations providing clinical guidelines have recommended that meniscotomies be discontinued, the study’s lead researcher said. Photograph: Amorn Suriyan/Getty Images

A common knee surgery for cartilage damage does not benefit patients and may lead to worse outcomes, a 10-year trial suggests.

The study tracked outcomes for patients treated for a meniscus tear, who were given a partial meniscectomy, one of the most common orthopaedic surgeries. Their trajectories were compared with patients who had randomly been assigned to receive “sham surgery”, in which no procedure was carried out.

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