Is there any benefit to the use of low dose radiation in patients with osteoarthritis who have already undergone joint replacement?
What’s your perspective on using radiation therapy to treat osteoarthritis?
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I've treated a lot of patients with LDRT for OA, but not many with joint replacements. The ones that still have pain after a joint replacement - I have told them that mechanistically it does not make a whole lot of sense to treat - I don't imagine it will have that same anti-inflammatory effect, as we are not treating a cartilage deficient micro-environment. It shouldn't work.
That being said, I've had a few patients push hard for us to try it. One had a benefit with some reduction in pain and another had no benefit. I'd have to check my notes, but I don't believe the pain relief was long-lasting. I would only consider this again if the patient had considered and tried every other option (NSAIDs, natural anti-inflammatory/arthritis herbs/su...
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