Osteoarthritis of the Knee (Knee Arthritis): "Degenerative Joint Disease" can cause pain, stiffness, and cartilage breakdown.
Edited By: Seth S. Leopold, M.D.
Last updated Monday, January 14, 2008
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Causes and effectsCauses No one knows what causes osteoarthritis of the knee.
However, there are some risk factors that may increase the
likelihood that knees will become arthritic. These risk factors include:
- Genetics.
Arthritis often runs in families.
- Severe
trauma. Fractures (broken bones) and total removal of the supporting cartilages
of the knee (meniscus) both increase the likelihood of knee arthritis.
-
Obesity.
This is associated with arthritis of the knees.
Effects Pain, swelling, and stiffness are the main symptoms of
knee arthritis. When it becomes more advanced, joint deformity (knock-knees or
bow-legs) can occur.
As the condition worsens, it often becomes less responsive
to medical treatments such as pills or injections.
In
many patients with advanced arthritis, particularly if those medical approaches
are no longer helpful, surgery can offer relief of symptoms. Some patients with
severe osteoarthritis sometimes can benefit from joint replacement surgery,
either partial (unicompartmental) knee replacement or
total knee replacement, which now can be done using a minimally-invasive
quadriceps-sparing approach that can
significantly shorten the recovery and decrease the pain following surgery.Surgery for Knee Arthritis at the University of Washington, Department of Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine, Seattle, Washington If you are interested in making an appointment to discuss this procedure in Seattle, you can request an appointment using our online referrals website. To request a referral online, please click here. You can also call the Bone & Joint Surgery Center at 206-598-BONE (2663) or Eastside Specialty Clinic at 425-646-7777 to make an appointment. Our clinical center is located in Seattle Washington, USA
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