Knee osteoarthritis(Gonarthrosis, osteoarthritis of the knee joint, deforming osteoarthritis of the knee joint) is a degenerative disease of the knee joint, which is characterized by destruction of the cartilage of the articular surfaces, joint deformation and impairment of its function.
It is believed that the initial changes in osteoarthritis of the knee joint are formed in the cartilage tissue at the molecular level. Over time, these changes lead to a violation of the physico-chemical properties of the cartilage. When examining cartilage preparations, it can be seen that in places it begins to cloud, thin, layer and tear in different directions.
In the end, the pathological process ends with the complete disappearance of the cartilage to a lesser or greater extent, which leads to the exposure of the underlying bone. Knee osteoarthritis is most common in people over 50.
More often women suffer from osteoarthritis of the knee joint. Knee osteoarthritis can occur on one side or on both sides. The most common forms of osteoarthritis are medial.
Reasons for the development of osteoarthritis of the knee joint
The exact cause of osteoarthritis is unknown to science, but there are a number of factors that usually contribute to the onset of this disease:
- Previous knee joint injuries - increase the risk of developing osteoarthritis;
- Heredity - in some cases, a defect in the gene responsible for the development of cartilage tissue is found in patients with osteoarthritis, which leads to these people being damaged due to the low resistance of the cartilage tissue;
- Increased body weight - according to observations, in patients with increased body weight, osteoarthritis of the large joints of the lower extremities (knees, osteoarthritis of the hip joint) most often develops and occurs as a result of excessive stress on these joints. It can also lead to faster disease progression;
- Excessive stress on the joint;
- Intra-articular deposition of crystals - occurs in some diseases associated with metabolic disorders, especially uric acid, etc. , which can lead to the destruction of cartilage.
Knee osteoarthritis symptoms
Knee osteoarthritis symptoms are known to develop slowly over several years.
The most common symptoms of knee osteoarthritis are:
- Pain in the depth of the knee joint, especially when moving and walking;
- Knee swelling;
- Morning stiffness in the morning, which disappears after a while during movements, patients find that they need to "dissipate", after which there is relief and movements in the knee joint improve;
- Crunching (crepitus) in the joint during movement.
Treatment of knee osteoarthritis
Complete healing of knee osteoarthritis is currently not possible. However, by starting treatment in the early stages of the disease, it is possible to stop the progression of the destruction of the cartilage tissue of the joint for a long time.
The treatment center carries out a modern treatment of osteoarthritis of the knee joint based on a comprehensive multilateral approach and includes:
- The use of knee braces to relieve the medial joint parts;
- Taking non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs that can help stop inflammation in the joint and relieve pain;
- Decrease in increased body weight - reliably leads to a slowdown in the progression of osteoarthritis;
- Physical therapy exercises without axial loads on the joint will allow you to restore muscle tone, prevent its wastage and restore the range of motion in the joint.
- Reception of small doses of muscle relaxants - leads to a decrease in the spasm of the periarticular muscles, which also significantly reduces the pain syndrome;
- Physiotherapy courses;
- Introduction of hyaluronic acid preparations into the joint - a synovial fluid prosthesis;
- Taking drugs of the chondroprotective group;
- Taking drugs that improve blood rheology and blood supply to bones;
- In some cases, knee arthroscopy;
- Knee replacement - knee arthroplasty when conservative treatment is ineffective.
The operation for osteoarthritis of the knee joint is carried out free of charge in the VMP.
In the event of medical indications and the presence of quotas in the referral, our center performs operations at the expense of the funds provided under the High-Tech Medicine Provisioning Program (HMP).
Details on the high-tech medical care program.
Treatment of knee osteoarthritis with the PRP method
In addition to the above-mentioned classic methods of conservative treatment of deforming osteoarthritis of the knee joint, our clinic offers the unique opportunity to receive treatment using a unique technique based on the introduction of a biologically active substance isolated from the patient into the affected jointBlood-enriched autologous platelet plasma (PRP therapy), which allows you to influence the key link in the pathogenesis of osteoarthritis - regeneration - restoration of cartilage tissue.
As a result of treatment with enriched autologous platelet plasma, the patient does not use "chemical" drugs, does not need a daily visit to a physiotherapist, etc. Thus, there is no effect of drugs on the entire body, the stress on such important organs as the liver and kidneys is reduced.