Frequency
Knee joint arthrosis is a common adult disease with a high prevalence (27 – 90% depending on the study) among people over 60 years of age. Due to this fact, it is of high socio-medical importance. Knee arthrosis impairs both the ability to work and the personal quality of life.
The female gender is significantly more frequently affected by knee arthrosis. Causes of the development of knee arthrosisGonarthrosis: Important factors that favor knee arthrosis: This topic may also be of interest to you: Chronic knee pain
- Axis deviations (X- or bow legs)
- Injuries to the knee joint, e.g. fracture with joint involvement
- Systemic diseases, e.g.
haemophilia
- Rheumatoid arthritis (rheumatism, chronic polyarthritis)
- Inflammation of the knee joint by bacteria (bacterial arthritis)
- Misplaced kneecap
- Muscular imbalances caused by, e.g. paralysis
- Osteochondrosis dissecans
- Osteonecrosis (e.g. M. Ahlbäck)
- Metabolic diseases, e.g.
gout
- Overweight
- Incorrect load
- Endocrine factors (e.g. hormones, increased incidence of osteoarthritis after menopause)
- Cruciate ligament rupture
After lying or sitting for a long time, patients often complain of a stiffness feeling in the knee joint, combined with a starting pain. The knee joint is prone to swelling and effusion formation, which increases the pain even at lower loads. Irritant attacks, which initially occur rather rarely, become more frequent.
In addition, the knee joint needs more time to return to a non-irritant state. The sensitivity to stress increases more strongly. Climbing stairs and going down stairs and mountains becomes painful more quickly.
The knee joint appears unsteady to the patient and the irritation symptoms increase.As the disease progresses, increasingly severe pain forces the patient to stop, for example when going for a walk. This considerably reduces the walking distance. Due to the pain-related sparing, the muscles of the thigh shrink.
Attentive observers have the impression that the stability of the knee joint decreases, especially on uneven ground. This eventually leads to a situation where the joint mobility decreases more and more and even in a state of rest (e.g. during sleep) sometimes severe complaints occur. Changes in the axis of the knee joint, in the sense of bow legs (= varus – gonarthrosis or varus gonarthrosis) or bow legs (= valgus – gonarthrosis or valgus gonarthrosis) can also occur. Knee arthrosis can lead to fluid retention in the bone through damage to the joint cartilage. This is usually reflected in the clinical picture of bone edema in the knee.