Genicular Artery Embolization (GAE)
About 250 million people around the world suffer from knee pain related to osteoarthritis. On top of that, about 14 million people in the U.S. alone have been diagnosed with this painful condition in just the past couple of decades.
Known as wear-and-tear arthritis, osteoarthritis is a common condition in which the cushioning between your joints- called cartilage- is worn down due to general activity. Without these cushions, the bones rub against each other causing friction, pain, and eventually deformation.
The constant rubbing results in chronic pain, swelling, and stiffness. This is where a genicular artery embolization (GAE) can help anyone with this condition by reducing their pain.
What is Genicular Artery Embolization?
While anything relating to embolism tends to mean bad news or cause us to worry, GAE is actually quite beneficial. GAE is designed to be a minimally-invasive procedure that safely, and effectively, reduces knee pain in patients suffering from osteoarthritis.
GAE is performed by an interventional radiologist (IR), a specialist physician who uses tools like x-rays and other imaging technology to be able to see inside the body. In this way, they are able to treat conditions in a non-invasive manner.
Another important quality of GAE is that it requires very little sedation. Known as twilight sedation- a combination of local anesthetic with sedation- is used during the GAE procedure. This allows the patient to stay somewhat awake during the process and feel no pain. As a plus, twilight sedation enables the patient to go home on their own after the procedure, which generally takes one to two hours.
Osteoarthritis Knee Pain
As amazing as genicular artery embolization may sound, it works mainly for knee pain. Pain in the knee joint is a common sign of osteoarthritis happening in the knee. Knee osteoarthritis makes it painful for the patient to practice sports, run, go up the stairs or take on any sort of high-impact activity. This is caused by osteoarthritis making your knees feel stiff or swollen. Over time, osteoarthritis of the knee can actually deform the knee joint due to the constant friction, making your joints feel unstable
The changes due to osteoarthritis are commonly slow occurring and happen over many years, yet there are rare exceptions. Constant inflammation and injury to the joint area can cause bony changes, deterioration of tendons and ligaments, bone spurs, and a breakdown of cartilage resulting in further pain. However, these deformations would make a patient non-eligible for the genicular artery embolization procedure.
Though we all normally connect osteoarthritis to old age, young people can get it, too. For some patients, it could be hereditary. For others, osteoarthritis of the knee can be the direct result of high-impact sports, being overweight, or even due to an infection that has left secondary effects behind.
How Does It Work?
We now know what genicular artery embolization is and how can it help us, but why is effective and how does it even work? What does it mean when we say it is non-invasive?
Once the patient is under twilight sedation, the procedure starts with the IR physicians inserting a thin and hollow tube- known as a catheter- into the artery that runs through the patient’s upper thigh. Using x-ray imaging, the IR guides the catheter towards the arteries that supply blood to the lining of the knee. Once the catheter is in place, the IR introduces tiny particles into the bloodstream of the knee’s lining, reducing the blood supply in the area. Now that the blood supply has been lowered, any inflammation in the knee is reduced exponentially due to the lack of blood, which alleviates the pain.
In summary, GAE blocks the blood flow in the areas surrounding the knee that commonly get inflamed. By blocking these arteries and reducing the area’s inflammation, GAE effectively minimizes the pain caused by the pressure from the inflammation.
Is GAE Right For You?
While GAE is a low-risk, non-surgical, treatment alternative for patients with knee pain due to osteoarthritis who have failed your common therapy, for example, anti-inflammatory medical treatment, it isn’t for everyone.
There are factors that can make this procedure impossible or too risky to actually be worth the benefits. The following parameters make you a suitable candidate for GAE:
- You are between 40 and 80 years old.
- Degenerative Joint Disease (DJD).
- You suffer moderate to severe knee pain.
- Persistent usage-related knee pain.
- The osteoarthritis has not caused deformation of the bone.
- There is a feeling of tenderness around the knee.
- Conservative treatment had no effect.
If several of the previous characteristics fit you, GAE might be the procedure for you. You can take control of your life away from knee pain with the effects of the GAE procedure. Talk to your doctor today about how you too can enjoy the benefits of GAE.