Gonarthrosis, or sometimes incorrectly called, gonoarthrosis (joint disease of the knee joint) is a chronic, progressive disease that is accompanied by degenerative changes in the cartilage tissue of the joints.
As the disease progresses, a person may completely lose the ability to move independently. Timely diagnosis and treatment of gonarthrosis helps to stop the pathological process and save a person from pain.
Usually, this pathology is diagnosed in middle-aged and elderly people, but it can also occur in young people. Women are several times more likely to get this disease than men. In this article, we will review the clinical signs and treatment tactics of gonarthrosis.
The main clinical signs of gonarthrosis
As we said, gonarthrosis has a gradual progression. So, in the early stages of the illness, there is practically no discomfort, but over time the symptoms increase.
The main clinical sign is mild knee pain that occurs with prolonged or heavy exertion. The patient reports some stiffness, and there is a "onset" pain syndrome (occurs at the start of movement, passes after the patient "disperses").
With this disease, there are no external changes in the knee. Sometimes people notice some swelling.
As the disease progresses, the pain becomes more and more intense. The pain syndrome, present even with little physical activity, becomes more apparent when the knee is under load for a long time. During rest, the pain subsides and then returns with continued movement.
In the future, the pain syndrome becomes persistent, appearing both with movement and at rest. Movement in the joint is limited, when bending the knee hear a crunching sound. With pronounced pathological changes, the knee is deformed, further restricting movement.
How is knee osteoarthritis treated?
Treatment of knee effusion by both non-pharmacological and drug-based methods, surgical intervention if necessary.
Patients with this disease are advised to avoid straining the knee, trying to remove it as much as possible with the help of orthopedic devices, canes. The most important point is weight loss. In 2017, scientists from the College of Medicine published a paper in which they found that obesity increases the likelihood of developing gonarthrosis by 4-10 times and occurs in every third patient.
In addition, a patient is assigned special therapeutic exercises, physiotherapeutic procedures, for example, UHF therapy.
Regarding pharmacological treatment, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs may be recommended for pain relief. With their ineffectiveness, intra-articular injections of glucocorticosteroids are performed. In addition, the treatment plan is supplemented with chondroprotectors, injections of hyaluronic acid.
Note that any medication should only be used as directed by a doctor.
In the later stages of the disease, the main method of treatment is surgical intervention, that is, replacing the joint surface with an artificial implant.