Osteoarthritis of the knee

I don't know. The cause of osteoarthritis of the knee, like all other types of osteoarthritis, is believed to be the result of a combination of genetic and environmental factors. Environmental factors that increase the risk of osteoarthritis include age (the older you are, the more likely you are to have osteoarthritis), certain occupations or work activities, and excessive physical exercise. Other times, osteoarthritis of the knee occurs as a result of a previous injury or abnormality of the joint, such as lesions of the meniscus, ligaments or articular bone, after intra-articular bone fractures.

As in osteoarthritis affecting other joints, the most frequent symptoms are pain, stiffness, deformity and loss of function. It is characteristic of osteoarthritis of the knee to have pain and stiffness when trying to get up after sitting for a while. This pain and stiffness initially disappear with the first steps but reappears after walking a more or less variable distance. The pain gradually subsides with rest.

The diagnosis is based on the symptoms explained by the patient along with the exploration of the knee. Occasionally, if the patient has swelling of the knee, joint fluid may be removed to analyze it and confirm that the characteristics are typical of osteoarthritis.

X-rays are also useful to confirm the diagnosis as they will show the typical findings of osteoarthritis and allow a prognosis to be established as the knee is more or less worn.

The goal of treatment is to improve pain and improve quality of life. Several alternatives are available: physical measures, drugs and surgery.

As for the medicines used in osteoarthritis, two main groups stand out: fast-acting analgesic and anti-inflammatory drugs: This group includes paracetamol, anti-inflammatory drugs (oral or topical such as capsaicin) and opioids such as tramadol. Slow acting drugs, the drugs included in this group, in addition to controlling pain, help preserve cartilage and slow the progression of the disease: chondroitin sulphate, glucosamine sulphate and diacerein which are administered orally and hyaluronic acid which is administered by infiltration into the knee joint.

When none of these options are sufficient, it is always necessary to think of an invasive and very effective procedure: knee arthroplasty, unicompartmental or total. Either is effective.