Osteoarthritis of the knee joint(gonarthrosis, arthrosis 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 joint 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 cartilage tissue at the molecular level.Over time, these changes lead to disruption of the physicochemical properties of cartilage.When examining cartilage preparations, you may find that in some places it begins to become cloudy, thin, flaking and cracking in different directions.
Ultimately, the pathological process ends with the complete disappearance of the cartilage to a greater or lesser extent, which leads to the exposure of the underlying bone.Osteoarthritis of the knee joint is more common in people over the age of 50.
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 development of arthrosis of the knee joint
Science does not know the exact cause of osteoarthritis, but there are a number 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 is detected in the gene responsible for the development of cartilage tissue, which leads to the fact that these people have an increased predisposition to the development of arthrosis, due to the low resistance of the cartilage tissue to damage;
- Increased body weight - according to observations, very 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 progression of the disease;
- Excessive load on the joint;
- Intra-articular crystal deposits - occur in some diseases associated with metabolic disorders, especially uric acid, etc., which can lead to the destruction of cartilage.
Symptoms of arthrosis of the knee joint
The symptoms of knee osteoarthritis are known to develop slowly over a number of years.
The most characteristic symptoms of arthrosis of the knee joint are:
- Deep pain in the knee joint, which appears especially when moving and walking;
- Swelling of the knee joint;
- Morning stiffness in the morning, which disappears after some time during movement, patients note that they need to "disperse", after which relief comes and movements of the knee joint improve;
- Creaking (crepitus) in the joint during movement.
Treatment of arthrosis of the knee joint
Currently, it is not possible to completely cure arthrosis of the knee joint.However, starting treatment in the initial stages of the disease, it is possible to stop the progression of the destruction of articular cartilage tissue for a long time.
The treatment center offers modern treatment of arthrosis of the knee joint based on an integrated multilateral approach and includes:
- Using knee braces to relieve the medial parts of the joint;
- Taking non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, which allow you to stop inflammation of the joint and reduce pain;
- Reducing excess body weight reliably leads to a slowdown in the progression of osteoarthritis;
- Therapeutic exercise, eliminating axial loads on the joint, allows you to restore muscle tone, prevent muscle atrophy and restore joint mobility;
- 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 prosthesis of synovial fluid;
- Taking drugs from the group of chondroprotectors;
- Taking drugs 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 VMP.
If there are medical indications and there are referral fees, our center carries out operations using the funds allocated under the program for the provision of high-tech medical care (HTMC).
Learn more about the High-Tech Medical Assistance Program.
Treatment of knee osteoarthritis with the PRP method
In addition to the above-mentioned classic methods of conservative treatment of deforming arthrosis of the knee joint, our clinic has the unique opportunity to receive treatment using a unique technique based on the introduction into the affected joint of a biologically active substance isolated from autologous platelet plasma enriched in the patient's blood (PRP therapy), which allows to influence the key link in the pathogenesis of arthrosis - 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 daily visits to the physiotherapist, etc.Therefore, there is no effect of the drugs on the organism as a whole and the load on important organs such as the liver and kidneys is reduced.