The knee joint is composed of the lower femur, upper tibia and the kneecap, and is surrounded by the joint capsule, the cruciate ligament and the meniscus, making it the most complex and largest weight-bearing joint in the human body. Knee osteophytes are also known as proliferative degenerative arthritis. It is not a common inflammatory condition of the joint, but rather a long-term degenerative lesion of the cartilage. The main characteristics of osteophytes of the knee joint are grinding sounds and pain when the joint is actively moving, which is especially noticeable when going up and down stairs, slopes or standing from a sitting position, pressure through and grinding sensation when pressing the patella, pressure pain around the patella or the joint space, sometimes swelling and fluid accumulation in the knee joint, floating patellar sensation, sometimes hyperplasia of the subpatellar fat pad, hypertrophy and sclerosis, and a lump can be felt from the patellar tendon side. If the hypertrophied synovial membrane, ruptured meniscus free body or subpatellar fat pad is stuck between the joint surfaces when the joint moves, it may produce symptoms of interlocking. In the acute phase, quadriceps spasm may occur, and in the later phase, atrophy of this muscle results in significant restriction of joint movement, frequent pain, and deformation and thickening of the joint edges. Finally, the joint is fixed in a semi-flexed state. The disease is most common in middle-aged and elderly people, with a higher incidence in women than in men. It is characterized by discomfort, pain and swelling in one or both joints. Initially, the pain is more likely to occur during prolonged walking or going up and down stairs, but improves after rest or bed rest. As the disease progresses, it becomes painful even when walking on a flat road, and the joint becomes unstable and painful when walking without attention. In severe cases, the knee joint may suddenly “lock” in a certain position, and when it is unlocked, there is an obvious popping sound. This indicates that there is a free body in the joint. According to epidemiological studies, the prevalence of the disease in China can reach 50% in people over 60 years of age and 80% in people over 75 years of age, with a disability rate of 53%. With the increase of the aging population, the incidence of osteoarthritis of the knee is increasing year by year, so it is not only a medical problem, but also a social problem, which is attracting more and more attention. The etiology of this disease is not yet clear, and is generally considered to be related to age, gender, genetics, climate and environment, but the main cause is injury to the knee joint, including acute trauma such as intra-articular fracture and dislocation; chronic strain such as knee joint overload, congenital hip dislocation, knee inversion and valgus. Bone and joint diseases such as inflammatory arthropathies, metabolic disorders, and joint deformities are also common causes of proliferative osteoarthritis of the knee. Clinical manifestations 1. Pain: Mostly mild to moderate dull pain, often tear-like or pinprick-like pain in severe cases, not relieved by rest, pain characterized by initial pain, weight-bearing pain, active activity pain, and rest pain. The pain is often aggravated by cold, going up and down stairs or squatting and standing up. 2. Swelling: It can be caused by joint effusion, synovial hyperplasia, fat pad hypertrophy, etc. When joint effusion increases, the floating patella test is positive. 3.Dysfunction: It may appear to be weak leg, popping or rubbing sound, interlocking; in severe cases, the joint is stiff, unstable, limited flexion and extension activities, and the pain is aggravated when walking, squatting, and going up and down steps. 4. Deformity: Mostly inversion deformity of the knee and coarse joint. 5.X-ray examination: early stage may have no abnormal performance, later stage can be seen in the joint space narrowing, subchondral bone sclerosis and cystic changes, joint edge bone superfluous formation, sometimes visible intra-articular free body. Treatment 1.Non-surgical treatment: including Chinese and Western medicine treatment, intra-articular injection, functional exercise, physical therapy, massage, etc. 2.Surgical treatment. (1) Arthroscopic surgery Arthroscopic surgery is suitable for osteoarthritis with obvious meniscal damage and free bodies. The Department of Orthopedics of Beijing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine has been performing knee arthroscopy for more than 10 years, and has accumulated rich clinical experience in the treatment of knee synovitis, meniscal injury, knee free body and patellar chondrodysplasia, which can effectively improve the symptoms and relieve patients’ pain. (2) Artificial joint replacement For those who have severe degeneration of the knee joint with persistent pain and progressive deformity that seriously affects work and life. If the knee joint is severely deformed and the functional activity of the knee is impaired, artificial knee replacement can be considered. The ultimate solution for osteoarthritis of the knee is to replace the joint surface with an artificial knee joint, which has the advantage of relieving joint pain and reestablishing joint stability and normal activity in severely degenerated knees. The artificial joint replacement carried out by Professor Lei Zhongmin of the Department of Orthopaedics of Beijing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine has brought the gospel to the majority of patients and restored many patients to health.