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Geniculate Artery Embolization for the Treatment of Knee Osteoarthritis

Geniculate Artery Embolization for the Treatment of Knee Osteoarthritis

Status
UNKNOWN
Phases
NA
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT05386797
Enrollment
50
Registered
2022-05-23
Start date
2023-01-01
Completion date
2024-06-30
Last updated
2023-12-19

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Knee Osteoarthritis

Keywords

Embolization

Brief summary

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a highly prevalent degenerative joint disease that contributes to chronic pain and disability in approximately 10% of people over the age of 55. With 25% of Canadians expected to be aged 55 or older by 2036, an increasing number of Canadians will be impacted by knee OA. In affected individuals the risk of medical co-morbidities is increased which can lead to adverse cardiovascular outcomes, depression, and poorer quality of life. Current conservative therapy includes oral analgesia, lifestyle modification, corticosteroid injection, and viscosupplementation. These current conservative measures have variable responses. In patients who would prefer to avoid surgery or are not surgical candidates safe and consistently effective treatment options are lacking. Geniculate artery embolization (GAE) is a minimally invasive alternative with low risk of complications that has shown promise in exploratory studies. GAE provides benefit by disrupting angiogenesis in the knee which can contribute to chronic inflammation of the affected joint, and helps prevent the growth of new sensory nerve fibers which can reduce the pain associated with osteoarthritis.

Interventions

The GAE procedure involves the use of an embolization agent to block blood flow to specific areas of the knee. Under sedo-analgesia, access to the target vessels is gained through the femoral or radial artery. GAE is performed with angiography to visualize blood vessels to assess the affected knee joint and ensure successful treatment.

Sponsors

University of Calgary
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
NA
Intervention model
SINGLE_GROUP
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
40 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes

Inclusion criteria

1. VAS score of at least 50 mm for knee pain 2. Pain resistant to at least 3 months of conservative therapy (including medical therapy, physiotherapy, intra-articular cortisone or viscosupplement injection). 3. Age \> 40 years 4. Radiographs demonstrating knee osteoarthritis on same side as pain 5. Patient not a surgical candidate or declines surgical management

Exclusion criteria

1. Radiographically severe knee osteoarthritis (Kellgren-Lawrence grade \>2) 2. Severe non-knee related lower limb pain with VAS \> 50 mm. 3. Local infection and inflammatory arthritis. 4. Malignancy 5. Previous knee surgery 6. Bleeding risk - known hematologic disease increasing risk of bleeding, pre-procedure INR \> 1.4, pre-procedure PTT \> 40 seconds or pre-procedure platelets \< 50,000/uL 7. Known chronic renal failure or eGFR \< 45 8. ECOG grade \> 2 9. Patient weight \> 300 lbs 10. Patient unreliable for follow up

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Pain Reduction3 monthsTo measure the proportion of patients achieving at least 50% pain reduction by the visual analogue pain score (VAS) after GAE for the treatment of pain due to knee osteoarthritis

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Procedure related complications30 daysTo measure the incidence of minor and major procedure related adverse events
Pain Reduction1 month and 6 monthsTo measure the proportion of patients achieving at least 50% pain reduction by the visual analogue pain score (VAS) after GAE for the treatment of pain due to knee osteoarthritis
Pain, stiffness and physical function1, 3 and 6 monthsTo measure the average improvement in the Western Ontario and McMaster University Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) after GAE
Pain medication required1, 3, and 6 months5\. To measure proportion of patients achieving reduction in pain medication required, both in number and dose after GAE

Countries

Canada

Contacts

Primary ContactJason Wong, MD
wongjk@ucalgary.ca403-944-1132

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026