(from June 2025 Annals for Educators)
For patients with knee osteoarthritis and obesity, the question of how long to engage nonoperative treatments and when to pursue total joint arthroplasty involves many factors, including the patient's underlying health, their weight goals, and the inherent risks of surgery. The American College of Rheumatology and the American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons developed evidence-based recommendations for the optimal timing of total joint arthroplasty. In this article, 2 experts consider the recommendations and how to apply them to the case of a patient with symptomatic moderate-to-severe osteoarthritis for whom nonoperative therapy has been ineffective.
Use this article and the editorial to:
- Watch the patient video and then consider how you would manage the care of this patient.
- Decide what would be the optimal collaboration amongst a general internal medicine physician, a rheumatologist, and an orthopedic surgeon in the management of patients with knee osteoarthritis.
- Watch the grand rounds video and test your knowledge by completing the quiz that accompanies the article.
Annals for Educators is a Web Exclusives feature of Annals of Internal Medicine which includes activities using selected Annals articles to help medical educators in their teaching activities.
Back to the July 2025 issue of ACP IMpact