What happens to the knee capsule?

In clinical practice, patients develop small cystic changes in the knee, mostly in the infrapatellar fat pad, ligaments, joint capsule, or meniscus. The cause of this condition is prolonged weight-bearing activity or acute trauma to the knee joint, which leads to inflammatory changes in the tissues, inflammatory exudate, and progressive formation of adhesions and calcifications, leading to cystic changes. Patients with this condition may experience significant pain and swelling in the knee joint, with an increase in localized joint fluid exudation, and in some cases, interlocking gastrointestinal phenomenon in the joint, affecting knee flexion and extension activities. When this happens, conservative treatment is preferred. Hot compresses can be applied to the knee joint, or ointments can be applied to relieve clinical symptoms. Some patients can also undergo minimally invasive surgery with arthroscopy.