Affiliations: [a] Department of Radiology, Jeonbuk National University Medical School, Jeonju, Korea | [b] Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Jeonbuk National University Medical School, Jeonju, Korea | [c] Research Institute of Clinical Medicine of Jeonbuk National University – Biomedical Research Institute of Jeonbuk National University Hospital, Jeonju, Korea
Correspondence:
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Corresponding author: Gi-Wook Kim, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Jeonbuk National University Medical School, 20, Geonjiro, Deokjin-gu, Jeonju, Jeonbuk 54097, Korea. Tel.: +82 63 259 3144; Fax: +82 10 254 4145; E-mail: k26@jbnu.ac.kr.
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is accompanied by inflammation and angiogenesis. Modifying angiogenesis through transcatheter arterial embolization (TAE) can be a potential treatment for knee OA. OBJECTIVE: We subjected five OA knees in three patients to TAE and report the results of our post-treatment observations. CASE DESCRIPTION: Three patients that had experienced knee pain for a minimum of one year prior to the study, and whose pain had persisted despite conservative treatment, were included in this study. Patients more often chose conservative treatment over surgical treatment. Pain and functional scales were evaluated before, immediately, and 1 month after TAE using the Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) and Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC). TAE was performed by an experienced interventional radiologist. The average values of NRS evaluated before and after 5 TAEs were 5.2 before TAE, 3 immediately after TAE, and 3.6 after 1 month of TAE, and the average values of WOMAC were 52, 38.4, and 36.4, respectively. There were no major adverse effects. CONCLUSION: The examined cases support the conclusion that TAE is an effective treatment for patients with knee OA. Substantial pain relief and WOMAC improvement were observed both immediately and one month after TAE.
