Knee Board decisions

The Board has determined that the veteran's right total knee replacement and lumbosacral spine arthritis and disc disease are service-connected due to aggravation of pre-existing conditions.

The Board granted an increased rating of 30 percent for the veteran's status postoperative right knee injury and a separate 10 percent rating for degenerative arthritis of the right knee, both effective from May 6, 1996.

The Board has granted increased disability evaluations for gastroesophageal reflux disease, left shoulder disability, and retropatellar pain syndrome of the right knee. The veteran's retropatellar pain syndrome of the left knee is not rated as it does not meet the criteria for a compensable evaluation.

The Board has determined that the veteran's current left leg disability, including arthritis of the knee and ankle, is not related to his service. The preponderance of evidence does not support a finding that any current disorder is in any manner related to an injury sustained during service.

The Board of Veterans' Appeals has denied the veteran's claims for service connection for right hip, shoulder, eye, foot, and knee disorders due to a lack of current evidence demonstrating these conditions.

The Board has granted the veteran's claim for service connection for residuals of a right knee injury, finding that his in-service right knee injury is related to his current condition.

The veteran's claims for increased ratings were denied. The initial rating of 10 percent for left knee arthritis was granted effective June 23, 1997.

The Board found that the veteran's postoperative residuals of a right knee injury with osteochondritis and degenerative arthritis warrant a 20 percent rating under Diagnostic Codes 5010-5258, effective from November 1998. Additionally, a separate 10 percent rating is warranted for painful and limited motion of the knee.

The VA denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for his right and left knee disorders, finding that the conditions did not meet the criteria for higher disability ratings based on the severity of his symptoms.

The Board found that the criteria for reducing the veteran's disability evaluation from 10 percent to a noncompensable evaluation were met at the time of the decision, effective May 1, 1999.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection and increased ratings for his left ankle disorder, right ankle disorder, residuals of right knee arthroscopy, and bilateral shin splints. The evidence did not support a finding that any of these conditions were related to active service or service-connected disabilities.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for arthritis of his right and left knees, finding that the evidence did not meet the criteria for a higher rating under the applicable VA rating criteria.

The Board denied service connection for chronic lower back strain and left knee disability, as well as a claim for an increased evaluation for post-operative residuals of injury to the right knee. The veteran's claims were based on direct service connection due to lack of current disability evidence.

The Board denied the veteran's claim for service connection for a right knee disability, finding that there was no evidence of an in-service injury and that the current condition is not related to his military service.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings and an effective date prior to December 8, 1986 for his service-connected irritable bowel syndrome. The issues were remanded due to insufficient evidence regarding the timing of his service connection.

The Board found that the veteran's left knee disorder was not incurred in or aggravated by peacetime service and denied his claim. The right knee disorder denial from November 1986 is final, as no new and material evidence has been submitted to reopen this claim.

The veteran's claims for increased ratings and service connection were denied. The Board found that the evidence did not support a higher rating or service connection for any of his claimed conditions.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for ratings in excess of 50 percent and 60 percent for his service-connected post-operative left knee disability, respectively, prior to July 26, 1999 and since October 1, 2000. The maximum schedular evaluations under applicable diagnostic codes were assigned.

The Board has granted an increased rating of 30 percent for the residuals of a left knee injury, effective from August 16, 2000.

The veteran withdrew his appeal of the left knee disorder claim prior to a final decision.