Osteoarthritis of the knee joint(gonarthrosis, osteoarthritis of the knee joint, deforming arthrosis of the knee joint) is a degenerative disease of the knee joint, characterized by the destruction of the cartilage of the articular surfaces, deformation of the joint and disruption of its function.
It is believed that the initial changes in arthrosis of the knee joint are formed in the cartilaginous tissue at the molecular level.Over time, these changes lead to disruption of the physicochemical properties of the cartilage.When examining cartilage preparations, it can be revealed that in some places it begins to become cloudy, thin, peel off and crack in different directions.
Ultimately, 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.Osteoarthritis of the knee joint is more common in people over 50 years of age.
More often, women suffer from arthrosis of the knee joint.Osteoarthritis of the knee joint can be unilateral or bilateral.The most common forms of osteoarthritis are medial.
Causes of the development of arthrosis of the knee joint
Science does not know the exact cause of osteoarthritis, but there are a series of factors that usually contribute to the onset of this disease:
- Previous injuries to the knee joint increase the risk of developing osteoarthritis;
- Heredity - in some cases, in patients with arthrosis, a defect in the gene responsible for the development of cartilage tissue is detected, which leads to the fact that these people have a greater predisposition to the development of arthrosis, due to the low resistance of cartilage tissue to damage;
- Increased body weight - according to observations, most often arthrosis of the large joints of the lower extremities (knee, arthrosis of the hip joint) develops in patients with increased body weight and occurs due to excessive load on these joints.This can also lead to faster disease progression;
- Excessive load on the joint;
- Intra-articular deposits of crystals - occur in some diseases associated with metabolic disorders, in particular uric acid, etc., which can lead to the destruction of cartilage.
Symptoms of osteoarthritis of the knee joint
Knee osteoarthritis symptoms are known to develop slowly over several years.
The most characteristic symptoms of osteoarthritis of the knee joint are:
- Deep pain in the knee joint, which appears mainly when moving and walking;
- Swelling of the knee joint;
- Morning stiffness in the morning, which disappears after some time when moving, patients note that they need to “disperse”, after which relief comes and movements in the knee joint improve;
- Crunching (crepitus) in the joint during movement.
Treatment of osteoarthritis of the knee joint
It is currently not possible to completely cure arthrosis of the knee joint.However, by starting treatment at the initial stages of the disease, it is possible to stop the progression of destruction of articular cartilaginous tissue for a long time.
The treatment center offers modern treatment for osteoarthritis of the knee joint based on an integrated multilateral approach and includes:
- Use of knee braces to relieve the medial parts of the joint;
- Taking non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, which allow you to stop inflammation in the joints and reduce pain;
- Reducing excess body weight reliably leads to a slowdown in the progression of arthrosis;
- Therapeutic exercise, eliminating axial loads on the joint, allows you to restore muscle tone, prevent muscle loss and restore range of motion in the joint;
- Taking small doses of muscle relaxants leads to a decrease in spasm of the periarticular muscles, which also significantly reduces pain;
- Physiotherapy treatment courses;
- Injection of hyaluronic acid preparations into the joint, which is a synovial fluid prosthesis;
- Taking medications from the chondroprotective group;
- Taking medications that improve blood rheology and blood supply to bones;
- In some cases, arthroscopy of the knee joint;
- Knee replacement - knee replacement when conservative treatment is ineffective.
Surgery for arthrosis of the knee joint is performed free of charge within the framework of the VMP.
If there are medical indications and referral quotas, our center carries out operations with resources allocated to the high technology medical care provision program (HTMC).
Learn more about the high-tech healthcare program.
Treatment of knee osteoarthritis using the PRP method
Along with the above-mentioned classical methods of conservative treatment of deforming arthrosis of the knee joint, our clinic has a unique opportunity to receive treatment using a unique technique based on the introduction into the affected joint of a biologically active substance isolated from the patient's own blood - enriched autologous platelet plasma (PRP therapy), which makes it possible to influence the key link in the pathogenesis of arthrosis - regeneration - restoration of cartilaginous tissue.
As a result of treatment with enriched autologous platelet plasma, the patient does not use “chemical” pharmaceutical products, does not need daily visits to the physiotherapist, etc.Thus, there is no effect of medications on the body as a whole and the load on important organs such as the liver and kidneys is reduced.