Anesthesia injections can provide short-term relief of pain for arthritis pain in knees

BOSTON -- Patients with arthritis of the knee may find relief from locally injected anesthesia.

In a randomized trial, researchers took about 60 patients with osteoarthritis of the knee and gave half of them an injection of an anesthetic around the knee to block the genicular nerves. The other half received placebo injections.

Most of the patients who received the nerve block said they had less pain but the effects lessened over the 12-week follow-up period.

The researchers say this nerve block technique could be an effective short-term therapy for patients, especially for those who want to postpone surgery.

Mallika Marshall, MD

Mallika Marshall, MD is an Emmy-award-winning journalist and physician who has served as the HealthWatch Reporter for CBS Boston/WBZ-TV for over 20 years. A practicing physician Board Certified in both Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, Dr. Marshall serves on staff at Harvard Medical School and practices at Massachusetts General Hospital at the MGH Chelsea Urgent Care and the MGH Revere Health Center, where she is currently working on the frontlines caring for patients with COVID-19. She is also a host and contributing editor for Harvard Health Publications (HHP), the publishing division of Harvard Medical School.

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