In a study that may increase the heavy pressure on public- and private-sector insurance payers while heartening hospitals and surgeons that have long found knee replacements a bonanza, a study says that knee-replacement surgery may significantly ease pain and improve leg function and thus quality of life in patients with osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The study was published in the Journal Arthritis and Rheumatology.

“The vast majority of patients had their symptoms improve dramatically from the surgery, but this procedure is not a cure – RA patients will continue to need to treat their disease outside of the joint replacement,” senior study author Kaleb Michaud told Reuters.

Post-surgical improvements in pain and quality of life were more pronounced for patients with osteoarthritis than for those with RA, reported Reuters.