Citation Nr: 18129489
Decision Date: 08/24/18	Archive Date: 08/24/18

DOCKET NO. 16-02 492
DATE:	August 24, 2018
REMANDED
Entitlement to an initial disability rating higher than 10 percent for left knee joint osteoarthritis is remanded.
REASONS FOR REMAND
The Veteran served on active duty with the United States Navy from January 1986 to January 1990.  In August 2016, he testified at a Board hearing before a Veterans Law Judge (VLJ).  A transcript is of record. 
The Veteran is seeking a higher disability rating for his service-connected left knee disability.
Review of the claims file reveals that he was last afforded a VA examination in January 2015 and the symptoms he testified to at his 2016 hearing indicate a worsening of his disability.  He testified to that he has pain with almost any prolonged activity and that he also experiences swelling, instability, and fatigue, leading to falls despite wearing a knee brace.  He also testified that he was being fitted for another type of knee brace and that a primary care physician at the South Bridge Community Based Outpatient Clinic (CBOC) had referred him to orthopedics for surgery, but another doctor recommended more conservative treatment plan including pain medication, physical therapy, and injections.  Because the Veteran now asserts that the severity of his left knee arthritis has worsened, an additional examination is appropriate.  VAOPGCPREC 11-95; Snuffer v. Gober, 10 Vet. App. 400 (1997).
The matter is REMANDED for the following action:
1.  Obtain all clinical records, both VA and non-VA, pertaining to treatment of the Veteran for his service-connected left knee arthritis since January 2015 that are not already in the claims file.  The Board is particularly interested in any treatment that he may have received from South Bridge CBOC as referenced in his August 2016 hearing testimony.
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2.  Provide the Veteran a VA examination to ascertain the current severity of the service-connected left knee arthritis.  The electronic claims file must be made accessible to the examiner for review of the case.  Any appropriate evaluations, studies, and testing deemed necessary should be conducted, and the results included in the examination report.  The examiner must use the appropriate DBQ and measure and report both active and passive range of motion of each knee, in both weight-bearing and non-weight-bearing positions.  If the required testing cannot be performed, the examiner should clearly explain why.
 
THOMAS H. O'SHAY
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	J.R. Bryant