What is knee osteoarthritis?

Knee osteoarthritis ( gonarthrosis ) is the wear and tear on the cartilage in the knee joint. At the endpoint of the joint disease, the bones in the knee rub painfully together. Osteoarthritis of the knee is often accompanied by painful inflammatory processes that are associated with restricted movement and stiffening of the knee joint.

If you feel pain when you take the first steps in the morning or if the knee joint e.g. If, for example, you are often swollen and overheated after hiking or jogging and you also lose mobility, you should have your knee examined by a specialist at singapore sports and orthopaedic clinic.

Types of knee osteoarthritis divided according to the location of the cartilage damage

• Lateral knee osteoarthritis: This type of osteoarthritis in the knee occurs especially when the knee is knee-kneeling. This mainly affects the outer area of ​​the knee. It is also known as valgus gonarthrosis.
• Medial knee osteoarthritis: This type of knee osteoarthritis affects the inner (medial) part of the knee joint. The medial osteoarthritis of the knee occurs mainly with bow-leg deformities . It is also known as varus gonarthrosis.

• Retropatellar arthrosis : Arthrosis behind the patella (kneecap) affects the joint between the kneecap and the thigh bone. It is known as the femoropatellar joint. This osteoarthritis is therefore also called femoral patellar osteoarthritis .
• Pangonarthrosis : In pangonarthrosis, all compartments of the knee joint are affected. The joint surfaces of the femur (thigh bone), the tibia (shin bone) and the patella are involved. With repeated inflammation, localized osteoarthritis can develop into gonarthrosis of the entire knee joint without treatment.
• Using joint-preserving surgical therapies, we try to limit osteoarthritis in the knee to the affected compartment. We can often preserve most of the knee joint through cartilage transplantation (cartilage cultivation ) , inlays or partial knee prostheses or retropatellar prostheses . In this way we can extend the life of the knee joint with osteoarthritis by many years.

Osteoarthritis is initially a disease of the articular cartilage in the knee. Cartilage is the white matter that makes the bones glide in the joint. Vital cartilage cells are central to the function of the cartilage. These form a highly water-containing and elastic connective tissue around them. If the cartilage cells die in osteoarthritis, this elastic connective tissue can no longer be sufficiently formed and regenerated.

Healthy cartilage looks like the inside of a coconut: white, juicy, and elastic. Articular cartilage in the knee joint effortlessly withstands the pressure of many hundreds of kilos thanks to its toughness and elasticity. It is so uniquely smooth that the friction between two blocks of ice is significantly higher.