Gonarthrosis
(Calcification in the Knee Joint)
What is Gonarthrosis?
The most common cause of pain that starts in the knees with middle age and has no specific cause is osteoarthritis of the knee joint. It occurs with the deterioration of the articular cartilage.
What are the Causes of Gonarthrosis?
The most known causes of gonarthrosis;
- * Genetic predisposition that occurs with age
- * Intra-articular fractures and injuries
- * Rheumatic diseases
- The death of bone cells around the joint due to various reasons (osteonecrosis). Accompanying all these reasons is obesity, which causes the disease to progress rapidly and the pain to increase.
What Are the Symptoms of Gonarthrosis?
Knee pain often comes on gradually. It can also start as sudden onset painful attacks accompanied by swelling in the joint. The range of motion of the joint is reduced. Squatting and climbing stairs become very painful. Straight path walking performance is reduced and painful. The first steps after rest are painful. Sometimes patients complain of knee sounds and locking. With the decrease in movements during the painful period, weakness occurs in the muscles around the knee, which further increases the pain.
How is Gonarthrosis Diagnosed?
In the diagnosis of the disease; History, physical examination, and x-rays taken by pressing are sufficient. For differential diagnosis of middle-aged patients with a history of sports injury or trauma, knee MRI may be required to evaluate intra-articular structures such as menisci and knee ligaments.
What are the Treatment Types of Gonarthrosis?
The stage of the disease affects the treatment method and success. Lifestyle changes, using a cane, and exercises are helpful in the early stages. Paracetamol group painkillers and non-cortisone anti-inflammatory drugs are used as drug treatment. It is definitely known that long-term use of this group of drugs causes kidney, liver and gastrointestinal diseases.
Nutritional supplements that slow down the deterioration of articular cartilage and reduce pain (glucosamine, chondroitin, etc.) can be used in patients who do not have a painful attack in the early and middle stages. Hyaluronic acid applications, defined as joint fluid injection into the knee, and the application of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) prepared from the patient's own blood into the knee are beneficial in this patient group.
In advanced stage patients who do not consider surgery, and in patients with acute pain in the middle stage, intra-knee cortisone application can be done more than one month and not more than three times a year, taking into account diabetes and hypertension. Pain and loss of movement can be treated with physical therapy applications in early and middle stage patients without malalignment.
Surgical treatment options can be grouped under three headings:
- * In patients with no malalignment in the early and middle stages, arthroscopic removal of the damaged cartilage and resolving the meniscus problems, if any, are the first surgical options.
- * In addition to arthroscopy, corrective osteotomy surgeries are the second option for patients with misalignment (angling) between the thigh and tibia bones.
- * Half or full knee replacement surgeries in our advanced stage patients are surgeries with high success rates.
Dr. Lecturer Koksal TILKI
Orthopedics and Traumatology Specialist
VM Medical Park Samsun Hospital
Adr.: Mimar Sinan Mahallesi. Alparslan Bulvari, No: 17 Atakum / Samsun / Turkey
Tel.: +09 362 311 40 40
Instagram: /drkoksaltilki1
