Benefits and risks

Information for the public

When NICE looked at the evidence, it decided that, although limited, it shows short-term benefits, and there are no major safety concerns. So NICE decided that the procedure was safe enough and worked well enough to be used on the NHS. The 8 studies that NICE looked at involved a total of 347 patients.

Some of the studies showed the following benefits compared with another surgical procedure. Patients who had radiofrequency chondroplasty:

were able to return to work about 5 days earlier
needed fewer non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs
had less pain and other symptoms
were more able to carry out everyday activities and take part in sports
had a better quality of life.

A small study that looked at healing found that, in more than half of patients, defects had completely or partially healed, and in about a third there was no worsening. In a few patients, there was progressive damage to the cartilage after the procedure.

The risks of radiofrequency chondroplasty included:

one report of secondary burns when the equipment was used wrongly
a type of bone damage called osteonecrosis in 2 out of 50 people
detachment of part of the radiofrequency probe within the knee in 7 patients.

If you want to know more about the studies see the guidance. Ask your health professional to explain anything you don't understand.