The impact of clinical trials

What happens after a study is published? How about an $82 million to $138 million US annual savings and a 47 percent drop in arthroscopic knee surgery in Florida alone?

These stunning results came from a CIHR report on a 2008 landmark study conducted at Western University and Lawson Health Research Institute which showed that a routinely practiced knee surgery is ineffective at reducing joint pain or improving joint function for sufferers of osteoarthritis.

"This study provided definitive evidence that arthroscopic surgery provides no additional therapeutic value when added to physical therapy and medication for patients with moderate osteoarthritis of the knee," says study co-author Dr. Brian Feagan, Clinical Trials Director at the Robarts Research Institute, and a professor in the Departments of Medicine, and Epidemiology and Biostatistics.

Read more about the study here