Effectiveness evaluation of radiosynovectomy on the radiological progression of osteoarthritis of the knee joint

OBJECTIVES: This study aims to analyze the effect of radiosynovectomy (RSO) on the radiological progression of osteoarthritis of the knee joint. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The study included 207 knee joints of 181 patients (72 males, 109 females; mean age 58 years; range, 19 to 65 years) that were performed RSO between 01 April 2003 and 31 December 2015 in the Department of Orthopedics and Traumatology at Uzsoki Hospital. A total of 111 right and 96 left knees were treated. The mean duration of follow-up was 8.7 years (range, 1 to 12 years). Of the 181 patients, both knee joints were treated in 26. RESULTS: Of the 207 treated knee joints, 163 had the same Kellgren-Lawrence grade at the time of follow-up compared to the grade at the time of RSO, while 44 had worse outcomes. This indicated that radiological progression was not present in 79% of the treated knee joints. The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) showed significantly strong agreement between the pre- and post-measurements (ICC=0.835, p<0.001). CONCLUSION: Radiosynovectomy was able to impede radiological progression in 79% of the treated joints and only one-grade deterioration was observed in 39 cases during follow-up.