ABSTRACT
Knee osteoarthritis (KOA) is a kind of degenerative osteoarthrosis, which usually involves articular cartilage, subchondral bone, meniscus and quadriceps femoris, which is equivalent to the change of "tendon" in traditional Chinese medicine. The occurrence and development of the change of "tendon" can be explained by the theory of "bone-restoration and tendon-softening" in traditional Chinese medicine. If the force line of the lower limb of the knee joint is normal, it can be indicated by "bone-restoration" in traditional Chinese medicine, that is, the blood around the knee joint runs smoothly, and the "tenons" such as meniscus, ligaments, cartilage, etc. are softened by the blood. This condition of the knee joint can be manifested by the balance of the surrounding soft tissue state. If the force line of the lower limb of the knee joint changes, showing a medial offset and misalignment of the knee joint, it can be indicated by "bone is out of alignment" in traditional Chinese medicine, that is, the structure of the soft tissue around the knee joint and its mechanical characteristics have changed. This condition of the knee joint can be manifested by "the tendons lose their flexibility". In this paper, the theories of modern biomechanics and "bone-restoration and tendon-softening" in traditional Chinese medicine were comprehensively analyzed, the characteristics of the "tenons" when knee osteoarthritis occurs were analyzed, and the characteristics of the occurrence and development of knee osteoarthritis from the perspective of Chinese and Western medicine were discussed.