ABSTRACT
The principal symptom of osteoarthritis of the knee is pain. As the disease progresses, attack-like symptoms with knee pain, effusion, activated osteoarthritis, increasing restriction in knee mobility and reduced walking range occur more frequently. Secondarily joint malalignments also develop. Activities such as climbing stairs or sitting for long periods with bent legs are named as sources of pain for patients with patellofemoral osteoarthritis. Medial and/or lateral osteoarthritis of the knee is very probable when the pain is described as being more lateral or medial. The standard x-ray should always be taken AP and from the side. Axial images of the patella and tangential images of the patellofemoral joint are also made for assessing the centring of the patella and for evaluating retropatellar osteoarthritis. For planning the therapy, x-rays of the knee joint AP while standing or of the entire leg while standing are essential.
Subject(s)
Diagnostic Imaging , Osteoarthritis, Knee/diagnosis , Arthroscopy , Bone Malalignment/complications , Bone Malalignment/diagnosis , Bone Malalignment/physiopathology , Humans , Osteoarthritis, Knee/physiopathology , Patella/physiopathology , Range of Motion, Articular/physiologyABSTRACT
Many highly effective measures as well as orthopaedic aids are available for the conservative therapy of knee osteoarthritis. When appropriately implemented for the stage of the disease,they can clearly alleviate the patient's symptoms. However, physiotherapy, physical therapy, balneotherapy and the usual conservative treatment options are not capable of stopping the progression of knee osteoarthritis. Other conservative therapeutic options such as magnetic field therapy, pulse signal therapy, radiotherapy, radiosynoviorthesis, acupuncture and drug therapies improve symptoms to different extents. For this reason, their application should always be critically evaluated.
Subject(s)
Osteoarthritis, Knee/rehabilitation , Acupuncture , Adrenal Cortex Hormones/therapeutic use , Anti-Inflammatory Agents/therapeutic use , Balneology , Disease Progression , Humans , Hyaluronic Acid/therapeutic use , Injections, Intra-Articular , Orthotic Devices , Physical Therapy Modalities , Treatment OutcomeABSTRACT
Surgery for knee osteoarthritis is indicated if the clinical subjective symptoms in conjunction with radiological findings can no longer be adequately treated by conservative measures. Fundamentally, the treatment procedures are differentiated between joint preserving interventions (arthroscopy, knee revision, if necessary with meniscal debridement, partial synovectomy, osteophyte removal, cartilage surgery with microfracturing, autologous chrondrocyte transplantation, mosaic plasty or spacer implantation), corrective osteotomies near the knee joint and joint replacing procedures (knee endoprostheses or knee fusion [arthrodesis]).
