The following symptoms and complaints may indicate gonalgia (knee pain):
- Radiating pain in the upper/lower leg.
- Restriction of movement
- Gentle posture
- Tension / hardening of the muscles
Note: pain in the knee, never forget the hip!
Warning signs (red flags)
- Anamnestic information:
- Inflammatory rheumatic disease
- Recent trauma
- Laboratory: CRP elevation
- Localized tenderness
- Increasing, persistent pain + night pain → think of: Osteosarcoma (bone sarcoma, osteogenic sarcoma); occur in childhood and adolescence; localization: metaphyses (sections near the joints) of the long tubular bones of the arms and legs. More than 50% of all osteosarcomas are located in the area of the knee joint (Attention! Signs of swelling and inflammation appear later:).
- No decrease in pain at rest
- Night pain
- Unstable knee → think of: anterior cruciate ligament lesion.