Knee Pain Relief, Without Surgery. Knee pain when you climb the stairs? walk the dog? get out of the car? try to sleep? kneel in the garden? chase the grandkids? get off the couch? stand at work all day? dance at a wedding? travel through airports? get up off the floor? shop for groceries? take the downhill? sit through a movie? There's an option between shots and surgery.
Genicular Artery Embolization (GAE) is a minimally invasive, image-guided procedure that calms the inflamed blood vessels driving knee osteoarthritis pain — no incisions, no general anesthesia, home the same day. Performed by the board-certified interventional specialists of Apex Heart & Vascular, with 21 locations across New Jersey.
Free Knee Pain Evaluation
Find out if GAE could help you — takes about 30 seconds. Our team will call to confirm a time.
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Our team will call you within one business day to schedule your knee evaluation. Want to talk sooner?
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Hear it from Dr. Shah.
Dr. Anuj Shah — Apex's founder and a board-certified interventional cardiologist — explains Genicular Artery Embolization in plain English: what it actually does inside the knee, who it helps, and why there's no incision.
- How closing tiny abnormal vessels calms knee pain at its source
- Who makes a strong candidate — and who doesn't
- What the same-day recovery really looks like
Dr. Anuj Shah, MD — Founder, Apex Heart & Vascular Care
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Does any of this sound familiar?
Knee osteoarthritis rarely announces itself. It shows up in small surrenders — the stairs you avoid, the walks you skip, the sleep you lose. These are the moments patients tell us about. Tap any that sounds like you.
The 60-Second Knee Check
Answer five quick questions about your knee. We'll show you how closely your situation matches the patients who benefit most from GAE — instantly.
Where does your knee hurt most?
Tap the diagram or the options — choose every area that applies.
Front view of a right knee, as if you were looking down at your own — inner side on your left. Tap every area that hurts.
How long has this knee been hurting?
Pick the closest answer.
On a typical day, how bad is the pain?
Slide to rate it — 0 is no pain, 10 is the worst imaginable.
What have you already tried?
Select all that apply — this matters more than you'd think.
What is your knee costing you?
Select everything the pain interferes with.
Your Knee Check is ready.
Tell us where to send it — our care team will also review your answers personally, free of charge.
What you'll get
Your candidacy result on screen right now, plus a call from our knee team within one business day to walk through it and — if it's a fit — reserve an evaluation at whichever of our 21 offices is closest to you.
Your match score is calculated. Unlock it on the right.
The genicular artery network of the right knee. The pulsing cluster at the inner joint line is the web of abnormal vessels that forms with osteoarthritis — the exact target GAE closes down.
Why your knee still hurts — even after the shots.
Osteoarthritis isn't just "worn cartilage." As the joint wears, the lining becomes chronically inflamed — and your body grows a web of abnormal little blood vessels to feed that inflammation. New nerve endings grow right alongside them. That's the loop that keeps hurting no matter how many injections you get.
- Cartilage wears downThe cushioning in the joint thins, and the lining (synovium) becomes irritated and inflamed.
- Abnormal vessels move inInflammation triggers new, abnormal blood vessels — which deliver even more inflammatory cells to the knee.
- Nerves follow the vesselsPain fibers grow along the new vessels. The knee becomes tender, achy, and swollen around the clock.
- GAE breaks the loopGenicular Artery Embolization closes down those abnormal vessels with microscopic particles — starving the inflammation while healthy circulation is preserved.
The treatment gap nobody told you about.
You've probably tried half of these already. Tap any of them and see, side by side, why it kept falling short — and what GAE does differently.
Cortisone shots
- What it does
- A steroid temporarily quiets the inflamed joint lining.
- Relief typically lasts
- Weeks to a few months — often less each time.
- The catch
- Repeated shots have been linked to faster cartilage thinning.
Genicular Artery Embolization
- What it does
- Closes the abnormal vessels feeding the inflammation — treating the cause, not masking the symptom.
- Relief typically lasts
- 2–3 years in published studies — and it can be safely repeated.
- The catch
- A pinhole and a same-day visit. No incisions, nothing implanted — and surgery stays on the table if you ever want it.
GAE is for the in-between knee: too painful for another round of shots that barely help, but you're not ready — or not able — to have the joint replaced. Typical candidates are adults 40+ with osteoarthritis on imaging and pain that has lasted 3+ months despite conservative care.
The numbers behind the procedure.
GAE isn't new, and it isn't a hunch. It has been studied for over a decade in peer-reviewed trials around the world — including randomized, sham-controlled studies. Here's what the published literature reports for well-selected knee osteoarthritis patients.
Backed by rigorous science
In blinded studies, patients who received real GAE reported significantly greater pain relief than patients who received a placebo procedure — the strongest test in medicine.
American pivotal trials were conducted under FDA Investigational Device Exemption oversight — the same rigorous pathway used to evaluate new cardiac devices.
Pioneered in Japan and now performed and studied at leading academic medical centers across four continents — with results replicated again and again.
…and the hard truths about the old playbook
Figures reflect ranges reported across published clinical literature — including randomized controlled trials — for appropriately selected patients. GAE does not regrow cartilage, and individual results vary; candidacy is confirmed at your in-person evaluation.
The GAE difference, at a glance.
Two lists tell the whole story — what disappears from the experience, and what you get in its place.
What you avoid — entirely
The parts of knee surgery patients dread most simply aren't part of this procedure.
- No incisionsA pinhole closed with a small bandage — nothing to heal from
- No stitches or implantsNothing is cut, and nothing artificial is left behind
- No shots into the jointNo cortisone, no gel — the knee itself is never injected
- No general anesthesiaLight sedation with local numbing; you breathe on your own
- No hospital stayNo operating room, no overnight bag, no rehab facility
- No months of rehabMost patients are back to light activity within days
- No guessworkLive imaging maps your arteries so healthy circulation is preserved
What you get instead
A short, precise, image-guided procedure — with relief that holds.
- A 45–90 minute procedureStart to finish — shorter than a ball game
- Home & moving the same dayWalk in, walk out — and sleep in your own bed tonight
- Minimal discomfortTypically mild soreness for a few days, managed with OTC medicine
- Relief that lastsOften 2–3 years in published studies
- A repeatable optionIf pain returns years later, GAE can safely be done again
- Treatment of the causeCloses the abnormal vessels feeding the inflammation — not just the pain signal
- Coverage by most insuranceWhen medical criteria are met — verified before your visit
How GAE stacks up.
Six paths, eight honest questions — all on one screen. Tap any column to spotlight it.
| ★ The missing stepGAEat Apex | Cortisone & gelinjections | PRP & stem cellsbiologics | PT & bracesconservative | Arthroscopykeyhole surgery | Knee replacementpartial or total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anesthesia | Local + sedation | None / local | None / local | None | General | General |
| Incision | Pinhole | Needle | Needle | None | 2–3 cuts | Surgical |
| Time away | Same-day home | Minutes | Minutes | Ongoing | Days–weeks | Weeks–months |
| Relief lasts | 2–3 years | Weeks–months | Unclear | While you keep it up | Little for OA | Long-term |
| Treats the cause? | Yes | No | Unproven | No | No | Replaces it |
| Repeatable? | Yes | Limited | At full cost | Yes | Rarely helps | Complex revision |
| Usually covered? | Yes | Yes | Rarely | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Surgery still possible after? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Mostly | It is the surgery |
Every knee is different — your Apex physician will tell you honestly which path fits yours, even when the answer isn't a procedure.
Everything patients ask us about GAE.
Straight answers to the questions we hear every day. Tap any question to expand it.
This page is for education and is not a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult a qualified physician about your specific condition.
Had the surgery — and it still hurts?
You did everything right. You had the replacement, you did the rehab — and the knee still aches, swells, or keeps you up at night. You're not imagining it, and you're not alone.
Persistent pain after knee replacement is often driven by the same abnormal, inflamed blood vessels GAE was designed to treat. Embolization has been studied specifically for ongoing pain and recurrent swelling after knee replacement — without another operation.
In their own words, after GAE.
I was three weeks out from a knee replacement I was dreading. After GAE at Apex I cancelled the surgery — I'm back to walking my dog every morning.
Two years after my knee replacement it still ached every night. Apex found the inflamed vessels and treated them — I finally sleep through the night.
Cortisone was down to helping for two weeks at a time. GAE gave me my stairs back — I walked out the same afternoon with a Band-Aid.
Todo el equipo habla español y me explicaron cada paso. El procedimiento fue rápido y volví a caminar sin dolor. Los recomiendo con confianza.
I was three weeks out from a knee replacement I was dreading. After GAE at Apex I cancelled the surgery — I'm back to walking my dog every morning.
Two years after my knee replacement it still ached every night. Apex found the inflamed vessels and treated them — I finally sleep through the night.
Cortisone was down to helping for two weeks at a time. GAE gave me my stairs back — I walked out the same afternoon with a Band-Aid.
Todo el equipo habla español y me explicaron cada paso. El procedimiento fue rápido y volví a caminar sin dolor. Los recomiendo con confianza.
I was three weeks out from a knee replacement I was dreading. After GAE at Apex I cancelled the surgery — I'm back to walking my dog every morning.
Two years after my knee replacement it still ached every night. Apex found the inflamed vessels and treated them — I finally sleep through the night.
Cortisone was down to helping for two weeks at a time. GAE gave me my stairs back — I walked out the same afternoon with a Band-Aid.
Todo el equipo habla español y me explicaron cada paso. El procedimiento fue rápido y volví a caminar sin dolor. Los recomiendo con confianza.
Patient stories illustrate typical outcomes. Individual results vary based on condition, severity, and follow-up care.
Catheter experts. Now for your knee.
GAE is a blood-vessel procedure — so it belongs in the hands of physicians who navigate arteries for a living. Apex's board-certified interventional cardiologists and vascular specialists have performed thousands of image-guided procedures on the body's most unforgiving vessels. Your knee gets that same precision.
"Apex didn't try to push me into a surgery I didn't want. They explained GAE, treated me with respect, and gave me back the ability to walk pain-free."Verified Apex patient
Independently accredited.
Nationally recognized.
Accreditation isn't marketing — it's earned. Apex holds four separate IAC accreditations plus AAAASF surgical certification, awarded only after independent medical experts review our physicians, equipment, imaging protocols and safety record — and re-verified every three years. It's outside proof that the care you receive here meets the highest national standards.
Great care shouldn't be complicated.
We accept most major commercial, Medicare & Medicaid HMO plans — and our team will check your benefits before your first visit. Not sure? Call (973) 916-0002 and we'll verify it for you.
21 locations. One phone number.
Essex · Bergen · Passaic · Hudson · Union · Morris — wherever you are in North Jersey, there's an Apex office nearby, open 6 days a week. Find yours on the map below.
Your knees have carried you this far.
Now let us carry some of the weight.
A one-hour evaluation is all it takes to know whether GAE fits your knee. No pressure, no obligation — just an honest answer from a specialist who does this every day.
Request your knee evaluation
We'll call you within one business day to schedule at your nearest office.
Request received!
Our team will call you within one business day. Talk to someone sooner at (973) 916-0002.