A method of grading the arthritic state of a knee, and establishing a prioritylevel for knee replacementis provided. First, radiographic imagery of the knee is assessed according toa numeric scale. Next,disability of the patient from the knee is assessed, according to a numericindex. The assessmentvalues from radiographic imagery and disability are combined, to obtain anoverall grade, and overallgrades from other patients in a population are also obtained. The grades ofall patients are comparedto obtain a surgical priority level for each patient.
