To analyze the effect of arthroscope in the treatment of elderly osteoarthritis combined with popliteal cyst.

A retrospective analysis was performed in 50 elderly patients of osteoarthritis combined popliteal cyst from July 2013 to December 2015 in the Affiliated Hospital of Jilin Medicine University. They were divided into two groups according to different operation methods: arthroscopy group (n=25), open surgery group (n=25). Operative time, blood loss, postoperative recovery rate and cyst recurrence were recorded and compared.

All patients received an average of 10.2±2.1 months (range, 8-12 months) of followed-up, and the rate of follow-up was 100%. The arthroscopy group 30.2±3.4 min, 4.5±1.8 ml had longer surgery time and lower blood loss than open surgery group (19.9±2.3 min, 38.2±8.1 ml), with statistical significance (t=-12.67, t=20.31, P<0.05), level 0 postoperative recovery rate in arthroscopy group was higher than the open surgery group (88% vs 80%), cyst recurrence rate was lower than the open surgery group (8.0% vs 4.0%), with no statistical significance.

Arthroscope is a less injury treatment for elderly patients with osteoarthritis combined with popliteal cyst, but the effectiveness need more solid researches to identify.