Clinical outcomes of arthroscopic synovectomy for adolescent or young adult patients with advanced haemophilic arthropathy

The aim of the present study was to assess the clinical outcomes of arthroscopic synovectomy in adolescent or young adult patients with advanced haemophilic arthropathy. From January 2009-January 2012, clinical data from 11 adolescent or young adult patients with advanced haemophilic arthropathy who were treated with arthroscopic synovectomy were retrospectively collected. The mean follow-up period was 71.91±5.28 months. The evaluated indicators included frequency of joint bleeding, range of motion (ROM), X-ray staging, hospital for special surgery (HSS) knee score and HSS pain scores. Joint bleeding frequency, pain degree and HSS scores significantly improved following arthroscopic synovectomy at the end of the follow up period. The ROM did not significantly improve. Among the 11 patients, radiographic stage remained unchanged in 9 cases whereas the remaining 2 cases progressed from stage IV to stage V. No patients required total knee arthroplasty through the end of the follow-up period. These findings suggested that arthroscopic synovectomy appears to an effective treatment option to decrease the frequency of bleeding and knee pain, improve knee function and delay knee joint arthroplasty to a certain extent for adolescent or young adult patients with advanced haemophilic knee arthropathy.