Choosing treatment and surgery
Shared decision making: choosing treatment together
Compare medical information with the activities and values that matter to you.
At a glance
- Compare benefit, risk and uncertainty.
- Describe specific activities and concerns.
- Agree on treatment and a review point.
The best treatment may depend on both the knee and the person’s life. Shared decision making means that a clinician explains suitable options and the patient discusses goals and concerns. It does not mean leaving the patient to choose alone.
A decision made together
- 01
Options
Explain benefits, risks and uncertainty
- 02
Your life
Goals, concerns and available support
- 03
Decision
Start treatment and plan review
Medical options, personal priorities and shared decision
Understand the available options
Clarify which exercise, weight management, medicines, injections or surgery are appropriate now. You can also ask whether observation without changing treatment is a reasonable option.
Compare expected benefits, risks, recovery time and cost. The clinician should explain a recommendation and acknowledge uncertain evidence and outcomes.
Describe your goals and concerns
Even when joint changes look similar on imaging, patients can have different difficulties with walking, work, caring for grandchildren or sleep. Describe the activities that are hardest for you and what you want to do again.
Fear of surgery, medicine side effects, family support and financial burden affect decisions. Write down concerns beforehand because the team may not know them unless you say so.
Check understanding together
Ask for plain language or a diagram when terminology is difficult. Explain back what you understood, including expected results and what remains uncertain.
You can involve a trusted person or ask for time to think. Outside emergencies, organizing questions or seeking another opinion may help you decide.
Include the review after the decision
Agree not only on which treatment to begin, but also when to assess its effects and what to do if it helps little or causes side effects. Previous decisions can be reviewed as your response or daily circumstances change.
Report changes in pain, walking and sleep and any difficulty following the plan. Quantitative knee measurements support explanation; they do not automatically replace your goals and risks in choosing care.
Common Questions
Do I have to choose by myself?
The clinician explains suitable options and reasons for a recommendation. The decision reflects your goals and preferences together.
Can I disagree with the recommendation?
Discuss your concerns and goals so that differences and appropriate alternatives can be explored.
Can the decision change?
Response and circumstances can justify reassessment. Plan changes or stopping safely with the team.
Evidence and references
01When to seek medical care
Each warning sign is a separate reason to seek care. Follow the action below if any one applies.
Emergency department · call 119 in Korea
- Call 119 for sudden breathlessness or chest pain, severe faintness or loss of consciousness. Do not wait for calf swelling to appear.
- Go to an emergency department if you suddenly cannot bear any weight, or if an injured knee swells rapidly or looks deformed. A cold or numb foot after injury also needs immediate assessment.
- Seek emergency care for a hot, swollen and severely painful joint with high fever, shaking chills, confusion or inability to bear weight.
- With back or leg pain, go immediately to an emergency department for new difficulty passing urine, loss of bladder or bowel control, or numbness around the genitals or anus. Severe or rapidly worsening weakness or numbness in both legs also needs immediate assessment.
Same-day assessment
- Arrange assessment today for a newly hot, swollen joint, sudden severe pain, or a knee locked so that it cannot fully straighten. Joint infection can occur without fever.
- Have new swelling or pain in one calf assessed today for a possible blood clot. Call 119 immediately if breathlessness or chest pain develops.
- Severe knee pain or a new limp in a growing adolescent may come from a hip condition such as slipped capital femoral epiphysis. Stop walking and sport and arrange assessment today. Go directly to emergency care if they cannot bear weight.
- Stop running and seek assessment today for new recurring groin pain, pain with walking or at night, or a limp. A femoral neck stress fracture needs to be considered. Keep weight off the painful leg until assessed. Go to emergency care if you cannot bear weight.
Book an outpatient appointment
- If none of the warning signs above is present, book an appointment for pain lasting a few weeks, repeated swelling or reduced daily activity and exercise.