Clinical and Functional Results of Transcatheter Arterial Embolization as a Treatment for Knee Osteoarthritis

Objectives: To evaluate the effectiveness of our first experience in employing transcathether arterial embolization (TAE) of popliteal artery branches in patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA). Materials and methods: The research included 80 people with knee OA grades 1-2, resistant to standard conservative treatment and without indications for surgical intervention. The patients were divided into 2 groups of 40 people each; in group 1, intra-articular injection of sodium hyaluronate (synovial fluid prosthesis) was chosen as minimally invasive therapy; in group 2, TAE of popliteal artery branches was performed. Clinical and functional characteristics of joints were assessed using WOMAC and Lysholm scales at baseline and 3 months after intervention. Results: Before surgery, in both groups 1 and 2, high levels of WOMAC scale (150 [138-184] and 162 [140-190] points, respectively) and low levels of Lysholm scale (42 [35-54] and 40 [38- 60] points, respectively) were recorded. At 3 months after treatment, patients of both groups demonstrated significant improvement in clinical and functional results in the form of decrease in WOMAC scale to 94 [84-120] for group 1, p<0.001; and 52 [40-79] points for group 2, p< 0.001. According to Lysholm scale, satisfactory results were obtained in group 1 (68 [60-85] points, p = 0.001) and good results in group 2 (91 [85-95] points, p < 0.001). On comparison of both groups, patients with TAE achieved lower values of WOMAC (p = 0.023) and higher values of Lysholm scale (p = 0.06). No complications were recorded in both groups. Conclusion: TAE of popliteal artery branches is an effective minimally invasive intervention that significantly reduces severity of pain and improves the function of knee joints. This method requires more studies with larger number of patients, development of selection criteria in order to increase accessibility in practical healthcare.