Pilot scheme offers hope to Hong Kong patients with degenerative knee disease

Hong Kong’s public hospitals are offering more patients with a degenerative knee condition an extra treatment option combining Western and Chinese medicine to relieve pain and slow down deterioration amid a long queue for joint replacement surgery.

The Hospital Authority said the pilot scheme targeting knee osteoarthritis, which was launched in May last year, was its first integrated Chinese-Western medicine outpatient service and had been expanded to Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern, Queen Elizabeth, United Christian and Yan Chai hospitals.

Dr Wun Yiu-chung, chairman of the authority’s Coordinating Committee in Orthopaedics and Traumatology, said that with an ageing population in Hong Kong, knee osteoarthritis was the most common orthopaedic condition and such cases had been on the rise.

“As the disease will become more common, it will be a huge challenge for the healthcare system. Thus, our goal is to maintain and improve the quality of life for the elderly,” said Wun, who is also the chief of service in orthopaedics and traumatology for hospitals in the New Territories West area.

“There are many successful and valuable experiences in mainland China by using the concepts of step-up therapy and chronic disease management to help patients with knee osteoarthritis at different levels. We established the integrated service after learning from these valuable experiences.”

Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu introduced the pilot scheme in his policy address last year as part of the measures to promote Chinese medicine development and expand integrated Chinese-Western medicine services to cover more diseases.