A minimally invasive procedure known as genicular artery embolization (GAE) was linked to sustained pain reduction and improved function for most people with osteoarthritis-related knee pain in a prospective, single-center study using rapidly resorbable gelatin-based microspheres, with follow-up reported out to 12 months.
Researchers reported results from a prospective single-center study of 194 people with osteoarthritis-related knee pain who had not achieved adequate relief after at least three months of conservative therapy such as physiotherapy, anti-inflammatory medications and intra-articular injections.
All participants underwent genicular artery embolization using rapidly resorbable, gelatin-based microspheres between July and November 2024. Because 45 participants (23%) were treated in both knees, investigators reported 239 total procedures.
The report said every procedure was technically successful. The authors reported no moderate or severe adverse events, while 6.7% of participants experienced mild reactions that resolved without lasting effects.
On a 0-to-10 Numeric Rating Scale, median pain scores fell from 7 at baseline to 4 at six weeks, and then to 3 at both six months and 12 months, the study reported.
Functional outcomes also improved across all domains of the Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS), including daily activities, sports and recreation, symptoms, pain and quality of life. Investigators reported that 80% of participants met a threshold for clinically meaningful improvement at 12 months based on pain-score change.
"For many patients with knee osteoarthritis, there is a real treatment gap today," said Florian Nima Fleckenstein, M.D., deputy head of Interventional Radiology Campus Mitte at Charité -- Universitätsmedizin Berlin, describing GAE as a potential option between injections and joint replacement.
The findings were published June 16, 2026 in Radiology, the journal of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). The study authors described it as the largest published evaluation to date of GAE performed with rapidly resorbable gelatin-based microspheres in a cohort of nearly 200 patients.
