Experience of Patients Undergoing Mini-Arthroscopy Compared to MRI in the Earliest Phases of Arthritis

Objective: To evaluate the expectations and experience of patients undergoing mini-arthroscopy compared to contrast enhanced MRI for research purposes. Methods: Seventeen patients with early, active arthritis (Group A) and 21 autoantibody-positive individuals without any evidence of arthritis upon physical examination (Group B) were included. All subjects underwent both contrast enhanced MRI and synovial biopsy sampling by mini-arthroscopy of the same joint within one week. At inclusion and after both procedures, subjects filled in questionnaires with items about expectations and experience with regard to the procedures. Results: Before procedures, subjects in group B had a higher fear of and reluctance to undergo mini-arthroscopy compared to MRI (p < 0.0001 and p = 0.001, respectively). Before procedures, 42% of the subjects preferred MRI, 11% of the subjects preferred mini-arthroscopy and 47% had no preference for either procedure. After both procedures, subjects preferences changed to 39% for MRI, 32% for mini-arthroscopy and 29% for no preference for one or the other procedure. When comparing Group A with Group B, there were no significant differences in preference before and after the procedures. Conclusion: Synovial biopsy sampling by mini-arthroscopy for analysis of synovial inflammation is a well-experienced procedure when compared to contrast enhanced MRI. These results support the use of mini-arthroscopy in a research setting from a patient perspective.