Knee Arthritis

Knee arthritis is the thinning of the knee joint cartilage resulting from injury, degeneration or inflammation.

There are a few types of knee arthritis, including:

Osteoarthritis, a degenerative disease that occurs as people age. This is the most common form
Rheumatoid arthritis, an autoimmune disease in which the body’s immune system attacks the joint
Post-traumatic arthritis, caused by direct trauma to the knee that damages the cartilage and changes the joint mechanics
Gouty arthritis, which is inflammation and cartilage damage due to deposition of urate crystal in knee joint.

Causes of osteoarthritis include:

Symptoms of knee arthritis include:

Bumps or “nodes” around the knee
Cracking or grinding (crepitus) when moving the knee
Joint instability, seems like the knee “giving way”
Mechanical knee pain that develops gradually, and worsens with prolonged walking or standing
Morning stiffness and/or swelling

Treatments may include:

Exercise to help stabilise joints by maintaining the strength of muscles and ligaments
Medications:
- Disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs for rheumatoid arthritis
- Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) to reduce pain, swelling, and stiffness in osteoarthritis
- Direct steroid injection into the joint to relieve pain and swelling
Physiotherapy exercises to stabilise the joint

Knee replacement surgery may be considered in the following situations:

If arthritis limits the patient’s everyday activities such as walking and bending
If pain continues while resting
If stiffness limits the patient’s ability to move or lift the leg
If non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) bring little pain relief