New Knee OA Therapy Halves Pain Over a Year Without Surgery

A 12-month real-world study from Charité Berlin tested genicular artery embolization (GAE) using resorbable microspheres to treat osteoarthritis-related knee pain in 194 patients (average age ~69). Pain dropped from about 7/10 at baseline to 3/10 after 12 months, with notable gains in daily activity, sports participation, and quality of life, and no major adverse effects reported. The procedure is minimally invasive, with short hospital time, and works by occluding abnormal vessels and pain-sensing nerves around the joint. However, the study had no control group and was conducted at a single hospital, so larger randomized trials are needed to confirm efficacy and compare with other treatments.