Osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis: the fundamentals 

“Synovial membrane secretes synovial fluid, synovial fluid nourishes the cartilage, cartilage protects the bone, bone protects the cartilage, ligaments guide the movements, muscles produce the movement, the movement is necessary for bone and joint life.” J.Arlet, Masson, 1971

Osteoarthritis is the result of mechanical and biological phenomena that destabilize the balance between synthesis and degradation of cartilage, subchondral bone and all of the connective tissues of the joint (synovial, ligaments, tendons, muscles, etc…)

Understanding osteoarthritis, is to understand the joint, connective tissue and therefore the cartilage and its biomechanical characteristics; is to know the functioning of the conjunctiva cell dedicated to the synthesis, managed by mecano and baro receptors; it is to integrate its role in biomechanical and biochemical balance tissue; is to be able to appreciate the role of the extracellular matrix of its hydrophilicity and thus its visco-elasticity.

Osteoarthritis: a multifactorial disease

Risk factors involved in the osteoarthritis process

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Signs and Symptoms:

Osteoarthritis diagnosis:

Osteoarthritis is divided in 4 radiologic Grades (Kellgren and Lawrence grades)

The Kellgren & Lawrence system is a method of classifying the severity of knee osteoarthritis using five grades: 

Osteoarthritis treatments:

Treatments for osteoarthritis are various and will be differently applied and recommended depending on the severity of grade of the disease, and will be chosen on the clinical experience and the relief to be obtained for the patient: