With osteoarthritis of the knee, conservative treatments such as physical therapy exercises, injections and medications can only improve the symptoms, but cannot remove the root cause of the pain. If, after trying these conservative treatments, you still can’t get relief, you may have to choose an invasive treatment option – minimally invasive arthroscopic surgery. Arthroscopic surgery does not require a large incision in the skin, but only two small 6-7 mm holes in the knee into which the arthroscope is placed; the top of the arthroscope has a camera and is connected to an electronic screen that allows the surgeon to clearly see the specifics of the joint cartilage and meniscus. The arthroscope can smooth out rough cartilage surfaces; remove bone fragments that cause pain or joint impingement, and particles that fall off after joint friction; and, if the cartilage is heavily worn, smooth out the damaged layer of cartilage. It is even possible to denervate part of the cartilage surface to reduce pain or bone marrow to stimulate part of the cartilage for repair. Arthroscopic surgery requires only semi-anesthesia or local anesthesia in the joint cavity, and the patient is only unconscious in the lower extremities or the joint where the surgery is done is partially painless, but conscious. If the surgery is performed to repair the meniscus alone, the patient will be able to walk after the anesthetic wears off; however, if the surgery is performed to repair cartilage, it is best to have partial weight bearing on the lower extremity for 6-8 weeks to avoid aggravating the wear and tear on the cartilage surface. The cost of meniscus repair surgery alone is about $10,000, with a hospital stay of 1 to 3 days.