knee replacement surgery

Due to an old injury in 1979 to my left knee I have been diagnosed with Osteoarthritis. I had arthroscopic surgery done in 1996 which relieved the pain for a couple of years. The doctor is recommending total knee replacement. I am 52 years old and would like to know if Physical Therapy or seeing a Physiotherapists is an option. Do you think that this would be a tempory form relief and would not correct the damage to the knee and eventually surgery would be required? I also heard that there was some new procedure that would bypass knee replacement. Do you have any information on this? Thank you so much for your time. M. Jackson