What is synovitis pigmentosa?
Synovialitis pigmentosa is another name for a so-called “giant cell tumor” of the joint mucosa. This is a benign tumor, but can lead to swelling and effusions of the joints and tendon sheaths. Inflammatory cells give the tumor tissue a reddish-brown color, from where the term “pigmentosa” comes.
The tumor develops spontaneously and often without a triggering cause. It can grow diffusely in the joint and cause severe damage despite its benign nature. In a arthroscopy, the affected parts of the mucosa can be removed. In the long term, however, a joint replacement with a prosthesis is necessary for complete healing.
Localization of synovitis
The hip joints are exposed to great stress in the course of a lifetime. It is therefore not surprising that the hips in old age are very often affected by degenerative changes, especially arthroses, which are often accompanied by synovialitis. However, therapy for inflammation of the hip joints is often difficult, as the disease is often already well advanced and immobilisation of the joint is difficult to achieve.
For this reason, treatment here is based primarily on drug therapy and surgery. A special feature of synovialitis of the knee is its occupational occurrence. While synovialitis of other joints occurs mainly in the context of degenerative changes such as osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis, occupational groups working in a kneeling position also suffer from inflammation of the synovial membrane of the knee.
Above all tilers and cleaning staff are classic examples of this. Also as a result of accidents, proliferations of the membrana synovialis frequently occur in the knee. However, the course or treatment of the disease does not differ from other localizations.
Synovialitis in the elbow is a painful disease with considerable restrictions in everyday movements.The inflammation of the joint mucosa is often caused by an unusual, heavy strain on the elbow. This can be the case in physical professions but also in highly stressful sports. Bodybuilders in particular are affected by the disease, since strong force loads can lead to considerable strain on the elbow if performed incorrectly.
The inflammation can cause swelling in the joint and thickening of the bursa. With the help of an arthroscopy, the joint mucous membranes can be removed. If necessary, however, the inflamed bursa may also have to be removed surgically.
Protection and cooling of the elbow are the first priority in the treatment. The hands in general and the wrists in particular are affected by arthritis in almost all rheumatism patients. For this reason, synovialitis also occurs very frequently.
Already in the early stages, this becomes noticeable through pain and restricted movement. Also, swellings can often be palpable here, which are caused by synovial proliferations. A special phenomenon of wrist synovitis is the so-called Caput-ulnae syndrome.
This is a tearing of the extensor tendons of the fingers as a result of destruction of the head of the elbow bone. In most cases, the tendon of the little finger is affected first. The consequence of the destructive changes can be the tilting of the carpus towards the thumb with a significant dislocation of the hand.
Finally, the late stage is characterized in many cases by complete stiffening or great instability of the wrist (ankylosis). All information on this topic can be found on our page Synovialitis in the wristThe fingers can also be affected by an unpleasant synovialitis. This is often a “tendosynovitis”, an inflammation of the inner mucous membranes of the tendon sheaths.
There are two main causes of synovialitis on the finger. On the one hand, bacterial pathogens can penetrate the soft tissue of the finger through small skin injuries and cause an inflammation involving the tendon sheaths and mucous membranes. Furthermore, overstrain and movement of the fingers can lead to increased irritation and trigger synovitis.
Such irritation often occurs during the excessive practice of new sports or other previously unfamiliar activities for the hands and joints. In chronic synovitis of the finger, secondary complications such as a “snapping” finger can occur, triggered by chronic inflammation of the adjacent flexor tendons. The main symptoms of synovialitis of the upper ankle joint are pain, blockages and swelling of the joint, as with other localizations.
It is often the result of sports injuries. However, the therapy and course of the synovialitis of the ankle does not differ from other localizations. In acute therapy, cooling and immobilising the joint as well as taking painkilling and anti-inflammatory drugs are particularly important. In severe cases a surgical intervention may be necessary.
