Bariatric surgery is an effective intervention for severe obesity and associated comorbidities. We compared symptoms, joint space and life quality of morbidly obese patients with symptomatic knee osteoarthritis before and after bariatric surgery.
34 patients with knee osteoarthritis were evaluated with standing anteroposterior and lateral radiography, medial and lateral joint distances of the knees, Visual Analog Scale (VAS), Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Arthritis Index (WOMAC) questionnaire and the Short Form 36 (SF-36) before and 6 months after surgery.
Mean patient age was 48.53±6.91 years. Mean body mass index was 46.97±6.04 kg/m
Although bariatric surgery might improve pain, life quality and functionality of knee osteoarthritis in early period, improvement is not directly related to weight loss amount.