Eighty-seven patients who had been on a waiting-list for an arthroscopy of the knee for longer than one year were reviewed. Eleven of them were found to have already been operated on. Only 28 of the remaining 76 patients had continued to suffer symptoms of sufficient severity that they wished to proceed to surgery. Symptoms had remitted in 69% of patients with degenerative disease or suspected meniscal pathology without ligamentous instability. Nine out of 10 patients with ligamentous instability, with or without meniscal tears, elected to proceed to surgery. These findings may be relevant when considering the selection of patients for arthroscopy, and when reviewing the results of arthroscopic surgical procedures.