Background and Rationale
Osteoarthritis (OA) is the commonest cause of musculoskeletal pain in the UK, affecting up to 1 in 6 adults, with over a million living in severe pain. Despite following the NICE guidance for managing OA, many patients are in the ‘treatment gap’ being ineligible for surgery but without an effective treatment option.
The cause of knee pain in OA is complex, involving synovitis, inflammation, and the formation of abnormal new blood vessels and nerve-endings. This has led to the hypothesis that selectively occluding these abnormal new vessels by Genicular Artery Embolisation (GAE) can reduce hypervascularity and therefore reduce patient’s pain.
Aims and Objectives:
The overall aim of this study is to assess the efficacy and mechanism of action of genicular artery embolisation in treating patients with knee OA that is refractory to NICE recommended treatments.
Our specific objectives are to answer the following questions:
- In patients with painful knee OA, is GAE effective at reducing pain at 6 months post-randomisation, compared to a placebo intervention?
- Following GAE is there a reduction in synovial hypervascularity and synovitis within the knee?
- Is the outcome of GAE dependent on the degree of OA damage within the knee?
