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, which is 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 the deterioration of the physico-chemical properties of cartilage.When examining the cartilage preparation, it can be found that it starts to become cloudy, thin, peels and cracks in different directions.
Ultimately, the pathological process ends with the complete disappearance of cartilage to a greater or lesser extent, which leads to the exposure of the underlying bone.Osteoarthritis of the knee joint is most common in people over 50 years of age.
Women suffer more often from arthrosis of the knee joint.Osteoarthritis of the knee joint can be unilateral or bilateral.The most common forms of arthrosis are medial.
Causes of the development of arthrosis of the knee joint
Science does not know the exact cause of arthrosis, 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 cartilage tissue to damage;
- Increased body weight - according to observations, arthrosis of the large joints of the lower extremities (knees, arthrosis of the hip joint) most often develops in patients with increased body weight and is caused by excessive load on these joints.It can also lead to faster progression of the disease;
- Excessive load on the joint;
- Intra-articular deposits of crystals - 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
Knee osteoarthritis symptoms are known to develop slowly over several years.
The most characteristic symptoms of arthrosis of the knee joint are:
- Pain deep in the knee joint, which occurs especially when moving and walking;
- Swelling of the knee joint;
- Morning stiffness in the morning, which disappears after a while when moving, patients notice that they have to "break up", after which there is relief and the movements in the knee joint improve;
- 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, by starting treatment in the early stages of the disease, it is possible to stop the progression of the destruction of cartilage joint tissue for a long time.
The treatment center provides 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 allows you to stop inflammation in the joint and reduce pain;
- Reducing excess body weight reliably slows down 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 reduction in periarticular muscle spasm, which also significantly reduces pain;
- Physiotherapy treatment courses;
- Injection of hyaluronic acid preparations into the joint, which is a synovial fluid prosthesis;
- Taking drugs from the group of chondroprotectors;
- Taking drugs that improve blood rheology and blood flow to the bone;
- In some cases, arthroscopy of the knee joint;
- Knee replacement - knee replacement when conservative treatment is ineffective.
Knee joint arthrosis surgery is performed free of charge as part of VMP.
If there are medical indications and there are referral quotas, our center performs operations using funds allocated under the High Technology Medical Care (HTMC) program.
Learn more about the high-tech nursing program.
Treatment of knee arthrosis with the PRP method
In addition to the classic above-mentioned methods of conservative treatment of deforming arthrosis of the knee joint, our clinic has a unique opportunity to treat it with 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 allows the key to influence the regeneration-regeneration connection.restoration of cartilage tissue.
As a result of the treatment with enriched autologous platelet plasma, the patient does not use "chemical" drugs, does not require daily visits to the physiotherapist, etc.Therefore, there is no effect of drugs on the body as a whole, and the load on such important organs as the liver and kidneys is reduced.