Summary of findings for the outcome of short-term pain presented to BMJ Rapid Recommendations panel
| Absolute effect estimates | Certainty in effect estimates (quality of evidence) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Outcome time frame | Study results and measurements | Conservative management | Arthroscopy | Summary | |
| Short term | |||||
| Pain (difference in change from baseline) 3 months | Measured by: different instruments converted to scale of index instrument (KOOS pain subscale) Scale: 0–100 high better, MID 12 Data from 1231 patients in 10 studies Follow-up 3 months | 15.0 points (mean) | 20.0 points (mean) | High | On average, knee arthroscopy results in very small extra reduction in pain scores when compared to control |
| Difference: mean difference 5.4 more (CI 95% 1.9 more to 8.8 more) | |||||
| Pain (difference in patients who achieve a change higher than the MID) 3 months | Data from 1102 patients in 9 studies Follow-up 3 months | 669 per 1000 | 793 per 1000 | High | Knee arthroscopy increases the number of patients with an important reduction in short-term pain by ∼12 in 100 |
| Difference: 124 more per 1000 (CI 95% 44 more to 204 more) | |||||
| Long term | |||||
| Pain (difference in change from baseline) 1–2 years | Measured by: different instruments converted to scale of index instrument (KOOS pain subscale—MID 12) Scale: 0–100 high better Based on data from 1097 patients in 8 studies Follow-up 2 years | 19.0 points (mean) | 22.0 points (mean) | High | On average, knee arthroscopy results in no difference, or a very small reduction, in pain |
| Difference: mean difference 3.13 more (CI 95% 0.17 fewer to 6.43 more) | |||||
KOOS, Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score; MID, minimally important difference.