Genicular Artery Embolization for Knee Pain in Maryland
Most patients living with knee osteoarthritis have already been through the standard options. Anti-inflammatories, physiotherapy, steroid injections that worked well the first time and less with every round after. None of them reach the root of what is keeping your pain alive. Osteoarthritis drives abnormal vessel growth inside your knee lining that sustains inflammation and generates pain on its own. At VascuHealth, we perform genicular artery embolization as a same-day outpatient procedure at our Largo, Maryland clinic, targeting the vessels driving your pain without surgery, without a hospital stay and without the recovery that follows either.
Reaching the small arterial branches around your knee, reading live imaging as the procedure unfolds and placing particles in exactly the right vessels without affecting the healthy ones takes training that goes beyond general clinical practice. Our physician earned his medical degree from George Washington University School of Medicine and completed his fellowship at Christiana Care Health System, where he developed advanced expertise in vascular and interventional radiology. He performs every GAE procedure personally, reviews your imaging beforehand and sees you through every follow-up. One physician. No handoffs. Consistent care from your first visit through your recovery.
GAE is indicated when conservative care has not produced lasting relief and surgery is not where you are right now. The WOMAC scale, used in the FDA-approved UCLA GAE trial to measure pain, stiffness and daily function, puts the average patient entering that trial at 52 out of 96. At twelve months it dropped to 19. If that range reflects where you are, your case warrants a formal evaluation at VascuHealth.
When Pain Comes Back Faster After Every Treatment
Steroid injections provide real relief for many patients, but that relief shortens with each round. Anti-inflammatories reduce symptoms without touching the abnormal vessel growth inside your knee. When both have run their course and pain keeps returning, the process driving it has never been addressed. That is where GAE works.
Knee pain returning sooner after each injection cycle points to unresolved arterial inflammation
Anti-inflammatories and steroid injections do not reach the abnormal vessels inside your joint lining
GAE targets the inflammatory blood supply that no oral or injected medication can access
Same-week evaluation available at our clinic
A Non-Surgical Option Before You Commit to Replacement
Knee replacement is effective but it is a major surgical commitment with a recovery measured in months and permanent changes to your joint. If you are not ready for that, or have been told you are not yet a surgical candidate, GAE delivers clinically validated pain relief without altering your joint structure, removing any tissue or requiring a hospital stay.
GAE is specifically indicated for patients who prefer not to undergo knee replacement
Your joint structure remains completely unchanged throughout and after the procedure
GAE does not affect your eligibility for knee replacement if you choose it later
Procedure completed in a single outpatient session with same-day discharge
Why the UCLA Trial Changed What We Know About GAE Candidacy
The FDA-approved UCLA trial included Kellgren-Lawrence grade 2, 3 and 4 patients who had failed at least three months of conservative therapy. At twelve months, 68 percent achieved at least 50 percent reduction in pain and function scores with 100 percent technical success.
Kellgren-Lawrence grade 2, 3 and 4 osteoarthritis are all within the confirmed GAE candidacy range
Prior failure of medication, injections and physiotherapy for at least three months is required
The FDA-approved UCLA trial confirmed 100 percent technical success across all enrolled patients
We review your imaging and treatment history at consultation before any procedure is considered
When Your Implant Is Working but Your Knee Still Hurts
Some patients continue experiencing significant pain after total knee replacement even when the implant itself is functioning correctly. That pain often comes from ongoing inflammation and abnormal vessel activity that the surgery itself did not resolve. GAE addresses that vascular component without reopening the surgical site or involving any revision procedure.
Pain persisting after knee replacement despite a correctly functioning implant is a recognised GAE indication
Ongoing abnormal vessel activity after surgery can be reduced through targeted arterial embolization
No surgical site is reopened and no implant components are involved in the GAE procedure
Outpatient appointment at our clinic, you go home the same day
When Osteoarthritis Has Started Shrinking Your Daily Life
Walking distances that used to be routine, managing a flight of stairs, staying active through a working day. When osteoarthritis starts taking those things away and you have already tried what conservative care can offer, GAE provides a path to functional recovery that does not require your condition to worsen before treatment becomes an option.
Knee pain limiting walking, stairs or sustained daily activity is a direct GAE indication
GAE is appropriate for patients aged 40 to 80 who have not responded to conservative management
Documented outcomes include both pain reduction and measurable improvement in physical function
Active smokers and patients with peripheral arterial disease are not suitable candidates for GAE
Still Managing Knee Pain After Every Treatment You Have Tried? We Go Further.
Patients from across Maryland, Northern Virginia and Southern Maryland come to VascuHealth after exhausting conservative care with their pain still present. We identify what has not been addressed and treat it directly. Same-week availability at our clinic.
Osteoarthritis inflames your knee lining and drives abnormal vessel growth that feeds pain and keeps it returning. GAE interrupts that cycle directly. We guide a thin catheter through a small access point at your wrist or upper thigh under live X-ray and deliver microsphere particles to those specific vessels, reducing the blood supply sustaining your inflammation without entering your joint or affecting your main knee arteries. An FDA-approved UCLA clinical trial confirmed 100 percent technical success, with pain scores dropping from 8 to 3 out of 10 through twelve months and 68 percent of patients achieving significant relief at one year.
Once booked, you will know exactly what to expect. Here is how your procedure day unfolds at VascuHealth.
Placing microsphere particles into the specific arterial branches feeding your inflamed knee tissue, while reading live imaging and protecting the vessels that need to stay open, is precise interventional radiology work that only fellowship training prepares a physician to perform well. Dr. Nwosu holds ABR board certification in vascular and interventional radiology and maintains active membership in SIR, RSNA, VIVA and OEIS. For patients across Maryland searching for genicular artery embolization, that level of clinical training is available at outpatient level from our clinic with same-week scheduling and no referral required.
Years of knee pain, failed injections and no interest in surgery. Here is what changed for our Maryland patients after GAE.
Brianna Lewis
Marcus Thompson
Kayla Bennett
