How is osteoarthritis of the knee treated?

  Knee degeneration, or knee osteoarthritis (OA), is a chronic joint disease characterized by degeneration, destruction, and osteophytosis of the articular cartilage. Studies have shown that the prevalence of knee osteoarthritis is 10% in people aged 40 years, 50% in people aged 60 years or older, and 80% in people aged 75 years or older, with a final disability rate of 53%. In addition to age, trauma, obesity, inflammation, metabolism, genetics, and poor biomechanics are all associated with the development of osteoarthritis of the knee. In the early stages, the pain in the knee joint is not severe in those who have a slow onset, but there is a sustainable pain, and the pain increases when the temperature decreases, which is related to climate change, and the pain in the knee joint is stiff when the activity starts in the morning, walking for a long time, strenuous exercise or sedentary rise and start walking, and improves after a little activity. The pain and stiffness of the knee joint when squatting improves after a little activity. When squatting up pain, stiffness, in severe cases, joint pain and swelling, walking limp walking combined with rheumatism, joint redness, deformity, functional limitations, extension and flexion activities have a popping sound, some patients can be seen in the joint effusion, there is significant local swelling, compression phenomenon.  Clinically, patients’ joint pain is often found to lack significant correlation with the degree of joint degeneration obtained by physical examination and X-ray, so treatment should be based on joint function and objective findings, and should not be based entirely on patients’ subjective symptoms.  The goal of treatment is to relieve pain, prevent and delay the progression of the disease, and preserve joint function. The treatment plan should be tailored to each patient’s condition.  The first step is to improve patient education and to let patients know that, with the exception of a few cases, the majority of patients have a good prognosis. Osteoarthritis may not always be progressive, and the prognosis is good for those with radiographic osteophytic changes alone, who do not necessarily present with clinical symptoms. Knee degeneration is also a normal physiological degenerative change in humans, just like the graying of hair and the increase in wrinkles in the elderly. Therefore, there is no need for patients to worry about this. At the same time, patients need to be warned to eliminate or avoid adverse factors to reduce the load on the joint and protect its function. Avoid prolonged standing, kneeling and squatting of the affected joints. Avoid mechanical injuries, strenuous physical activities such as running, canes, handles or other facilities to reduce the load on the affected joints, and weight loss treatment for overweight people should be given more attention. Some studies have shown that a 5 kg weight loss over 10 years can reduce the incidence of symptomatic knee osteoarthritis by 50%. In addition, elastic knee braces can be used along with exercises to promote muscle coordination around the knee joint and enhance muscle strength to improve joint stability for recovery and disease control.  Physical therapy for the knee includes heat therapy, hydrotherapy, acupuncture, massage and massage, and traction, all of which can help reduce pain and joint stiffness. In guiding patients through the rehabilitation process, the relationship between movement and stillness, and rehabilitation and medicine should be properly handled. With osteoarthritis of the knee, the prominent symptom is pain, which affects the normal activities of the joints and muscles. In the acute or chronic active period, appropriate bed rest is necessary, but it must be pointed out that one should get out of bed as early as the condition allows and insist on functional exercises. Proper exercise, especially the necessary movement of joints, can increase the pressure in the joint cavity, which is conducive to the penetration of cartilage between joint fluids and reduce the degenerative changes of joint cartilage, thus reducing or preventing osteophytes, especially the proliferation and degenerative changes of joint cartilage. In contrast, patients with osteophytes should be treated mainly with medicine for rescue and rehabilitation when the pain is severe. Because of the side effects of medicines, they should not be taken for a long time. In the chronic and stable phase, physical therapy and appropriate activities should be the main focus.  Medication can be mainly divided into drugs for symptom control, drugs for improving the condition and cartilage protectors.  Symptom control drugs are: 1, painkillers: because the elderly are prone to adverse reactions to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, and osteoarthritis in the periosteal inflammation, especially in the early stage is not the main factor, so you can first use general analgesics, such as acetaminophen, the drug because of the exact efficacy of osteoarthritis pain. Long-term application of high safety, and low cost in addition to tramadol is a weak opioid, better tolerated and addictive small, the average dose of 200-300mg per day, but should pay attention to adverse reactions.  2, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS): NSAIDS is the most commonly used class of osteoarthritis treatment drugs, its role is to reduce pain and swelling, improve the movement of the joint. The main drugs include FUTA (lindecanolic acid), etc. If the patient has a high risk of NSAIDS-related gastrointestinal adverse effects. Then Celecoxib (celecoxib) and meloxicam and other selective cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitors are more suitable. The drug dose should be individualized and attention should be paid to the effects of other diseases combined with elderly patients.  3, local treatment with topical NSAIDS or intra-articular injections of drugs, joint cavity injections of glucocorticoids (tretinoin acetate injection and Depo-Provera injection) can relieve pain and reduce exudation, the efficacy lasts for weeks or months, generally 2,5-5 mg at a time, but should not be repeatedly injected in the same joint (the number of injections should be less than 4 times in a year). The hyaluronic acid preparations used in clinical practice are purified from cockles. They are effective in reducing joint pain, increasing joint mobility and protecting cartilage through intra-articular injection, and the therapeutic effect can last for several months. At present, the domestic hyaluronic acid products include sodium vitreous acid injection (trade name Schippers), 2ml intra-articular injection, once a week, 5 times, the therapeutic effect can last for about half a year.  Improving drugs and chondroprotective agents: these drugs have the effect of reducing the activity of matrix metalloproteinases and collagenases, which can be anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving, and can protect joint cartilage, and have the effect of delaying the development of osteoarthritis. The main medications include Isoja (glucosamine sulfate capsules) and Glucophage (glucosamine hydrochloride capsules). The recommended usage is 250 mg/dose, 3 times a day with meals for 8 weeks, and a course of treatment can be repeated at intervals of about six months. It can significantly improve the patient’s symptoms, protect cartilage and improve the course of the disease. Because of the usually slow onset of action, it has been recommended that a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug be taken concurrently with the first 2 weeks of initiation.  Surgical treatment may be considered for patients with severe lesions and significant joint dysfunction who have had no significant success with medical therapy.  Arthroscopic surgery: For patients with significant joint pain and poor response to analgesics and intra-articular-glucocorticoid injections, massive intra-articular lavage may be given to remove fibrin, cartilage debris and other impurities, or to remove cartilage fragments through arthroscopy to reduce symptoms.  Plastic surgery: Osteotomy improves the balance of joint forces and effectively relieves hip or knee pain in patients. Patients over 60 years of age with progressive osteoarthritis who do not respond well to regular medication may be offered joint replacement, which can significantly reduce pain symptoms and improve joint function.  In addition, new treatments, such as cartilage transplantation and autologous chondrocyte transplantation, may be used in the treatment of osteoarthritis, but are still under clinical investigation.  In conclusion, for the treatment of osteoarthritis of the knee, both doctors and patients should work together to give full play to their enthusiasm for early recovery. Medical care should strive to improve the medical technology and to treat the disease. Patients, on the other hand, should actively cooperate with the treatment and actively engage in “self-medication” under the guidance of medical staff.