An epidemiologic analysis of clinical practice guidelines for non-arthroplasty treatment of osteoarthritis of the knee.

Purpose: To analyze the current practice patterns of non-arthroplasty treatment of knee osteoarthritis (OA) and to assess the impact of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons clinical practice guidelines on the management of OA of the knee, particularly as they relate to the use of arthroscopic treatment.

Methods: The United Healthcare Database (2004-2009, 11 million patients, 216 million records) was used for the study and was searched using Boolean language for International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Edition, Clinical Modification and Current Procedural Terminology, fourth revision codes. A reference group was defined as patients treated with knee arthroplasty in 2009 and diagnosed with knee OA in the same record.