Background: Due to large volume of knee osteoarthritis referrals and increasing waiting times, the contents of referrals and patient's pathways were analyzed in the Jyväskylä Central Hospital.
Methods: The referral contents of 171 knee osteoarthritis patients referred to the orthopedic outpatient clinic were screened, and the post-referral treatment decisions were pulled from the medical records.
Outcome: Most of the referrals had information about the diagnosis (90%), pain (88%) and symptom duration (80%). The least frequently mentioned were BMI (3%) and the implementation of conservative treatment (7%). During the specialist visit following the referral, 62% of the patients ended up in operative and 38% in conservative treatment. There was no connection between the referral contents and the line of treatment chosen.
Conclusions: Conservative treatment of knee osteoarthritis should be optimized prior to referral to specialist care.