Knee arthroscopy is not very good at treating chronic arthritis. A keyhole ‘spring cleaning‘ of the knee joint helps about 60-70% of people for up to 2 years. If there has been a sudden change in the symptoms with a new meniscal tear the knee arthroscopy can help to treat that pain and leave the background arthritis unchanged. Occasionally people with knee arthritis feel worse after their surgery and end up having a knee replacement in a year or so after the first operation.
Once the arthritis progresses consideration can be given to operations such as high tibial osteotomy, half knee replacement or total knee replacement.