Treatment Brief
Musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions such as osteoarthritis, tendinopathy, and enthesopathy affect 1 in 4 adults, resulting in pain, loss of function and reduced quality of life. The secondary co-morbidities associated with these conditions include diabetes, obesity, and depression. With 1/3rd of all work absences attributable to MSK conditions, the direct and indirect costs are huge, estimated to be 5.76% of the national gross domestic product (GDP) in the USA(1). Therapy for these conditions traditionally starts conservatively in the form of analgesia, physiotherapy, weight-loss programmes, steroid injections, and orthotics.
For patients with severe disease, and or who are resistant to conservative treatments, surgery may be an option. Unfortunately, many patients fail conservative therapies, and are not suitable surgical candidates. Over the last decade, MSK embolotherapy has emerged as a safe, and potentially efficacious treatment option for these patients.
Flow
Advantage
Recovery from embolization is much faster than surgery because there is no incision to heal or stitches to be removed. The risk of bleeding and complications is lower than with invasive surgery.Patients who undergo GAE have reported significant reductions in pain scores and use of pain medications, and significant increases in function scores. These improvements were sustained for several months from just one treatment.
Interview
