South Africa joins global shift towards minimally invasive joint pain treatment

South Africa has established a new multidisciplinary centre that consolidates orthopaedic surgery, interventional radiology, and physiotherapy to provide enhanced treatment options for individuals suffering from chronic joint and musculoskeletal pain. The Joint Centre SA emphasizes joint preservation and minimally invasive therapies, connecting patients with specialists who evaluate their specific condition to recommend the most suitable treatment approach.

The centre comprises interventional radiologists from Cape Town Interventional Radiology, orthopaedic surgeons, and physiotherapists operating at different hospitals. This arrangement enables patients to receive treatment at various facilities based on their needs, with Mediclinic Constantiaberg serving as the main hospital. Rather than directing patients through a single specialty, the centre assesses the cause, severity, mobility, lifestyle, and individual treatment goals of each patient.

Treatment options encompass physiotherapy, conservative management, minimally invasive image-guided procedures, or surgery.

Among the offered treatments is musculoskeletal embolisation, an emerging field within interventional radiology. This technique targets abnormal blood vessels associated with chronic inflammation and pain, using image-guided methods. Specific procedures include Genicular Artery Embolisation for chosen patients with knee osteoarthritis, along with treatments for persistent plantar fasciitis, chronic shoulder issues, hip-region discomfort, and Achilles tendinopathy.

The centre clarifies that embolisation is not appropriate for all patients and is not meant to substitute surgery when an operation is the optimal choice.

Orthopaedic surgeon Dr. Marc Nortje highlighted that this approach offers patients a wider range of treatments, acting as a novel method for joint care by uniting leading expertise to provide access to multiple treatment alternatives. Dr. Dale Creamer, an interventional radiologist, noted that patients frequently encounter a limited treatment pathway when several options could be considered.

Physiotherapist Mohammed Sonday emphasized that complex musculoskeletal conditions often necessitate input from various disciplines, yet such collaborative care is not consistently accessible.

The Joint Centre SA aims to alleviate pain, preserve mobility, and assist patients in accessing the most appropriate treatment at the optimal stage of their condition.