Treatment Brief

Osteoarthritis in knee joint is common problem of population. Knee joint capsule is going to be affected with advancing of age. Knee pain is common symptom with reducing joint space in knee pain. When patient consult his clinician with complain of knee pain, clinician advise him few exercise & pain killer medicine. Initially pain subside with this medication but after certain stage, pain will not respond to this medication.
At this stage clinician advise to patient about joint replacement surgery. Many patients are not willing for surgery & in many cases knee joint osteoarthritis is not so much advanced that they need immediate surgery. Many patients are not fit for this surgery.
If complain of knee pain can be removed from these patients than they can continue with their natural knee joint for long time. There are few technique which removes pain from knee joint.One theory is that pain signals arises due to underlying slow inflammatory process in knee joint. Inflammation leads to hypervascularity & this hypervascularity leads to stimulation of sensory nerves for pain. If any method able to slow down this inflammatory process than pain also reduces. GENICULAR ARTERY EMBOLIZATION is new advanced method which reduces hypervascularity & reduces pain.

Flow

Advantage

Long-Lasting Results. Greater Comfort.

Recovery from embolization is much faster than surgery because there is no incision to heal or stitches to be removed. The risk of bleeding and complications is lower than with invasive surgery.
Patients who undergo GAE have reported significant reductions in pain scores and use of pain medications, and significant increases in function scores. These improvements were sustained for several months from just one treatment.

FAQ

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GAE is performed with moderate ‘twilight’ sedation as an outpatient procedure, meaning the patient will go home after the procedure. The procedure generally takes one to two hours. Our IR physicians will insert a small catheter (a thin hollow tube) into the artery of the patient’s upper thigh and, with the use of X-rays, guide the catheter to the arteries supplying the lining of the knee. Tiny particles are then injected through the catheter into these arteries, reducing the blood supply. This in turn reduces the inflammation associated with osteoarthritis, which alleviates the pain. Initial (left) and final (right) angiograms of the knee after embolization. A circular marker was placed at the site of pain. The reduced blood-flow at the site of pain after embolization reduced inflammation of the knees.

Patients go home the same and in most cases, relief begins to occur in two weeks, as the inflammation in the lining of the knee is reduced, relieving the knee pain associated with osteoarthritis.

GAE is a non-surgical treatment alternative for patients with knee pain due to osteoarthritis who have failed conservative therapy, such as anti-inflammatory medications or knee injections, and who do not wish to undergo or are ineligible for knee replacement surgery.

The following conditions make for a good candidate for GAE:

  • Age: 40-80 years
  • Moderate to severe knee pain
  • Osteoarthritis based on x-ray, but without bony deformity/sclerosis
  • Local knee tenderness
  • Resistant/failed conservative treatment (NSAIDS/PT/joint injection)

The following conditions may disqualify a patient as a candidate for GAE:

  • Current or previous history of cigarette smoking
  • Advanced arthritis based on x-ray
  • Infection or malignancy
  • Good candidate for knee replacement surgery

If you are interested in seeing if you are a candidate for GAE, please contact us at or call our clinic at 310-481-7545, option 2 to arrange an appointment with one of our IR physicians.