Why do they do it?

I had severe pain at the back/outside of one knee.  I wanted relief of that pain.  Arthroscopy was proposed, and I said yes.  I was aware that arthroscopy might lead to arthritis worsening, sooner than it would have if I didn't have it done.  I was not prepared for my knee to be so much worse, as soon as I had the arthroscopy.  I traded one pain for another, and the only solution is a total knee replacement.

How can I help but feel that orthopedic surgeons perform arthroscopies to speed patients along the road to a TKR?

[Michael L Gross, MD]

While it is true that some patients who have arthroscopy, may ultimately have some form of arthritis in their knee. It is quite untrue, that is the result of the surgery. Rather, it is the result of the injury that required the surgery. Your logic would suggest, that everyone who has dies from lung cancer dies from the chemotherapy, not from the cancer.
Your suggestion that ortopedists peform surgery to push patients toward future procedures is, in a word, ridiculous.