The disease usually starts gradually with joint pain which gets worse on movement or exercise especially in the afternoon or evening. However, as the condition deteriorates, the patient complains of joint pain even at rest.
Other symptoms include: reduction in range of movement across joint and gel phenomenon i.e joint pain on initiation of movement.
This is the most common type of joint disease. Risk of developing osteoarthritis increases with age and especially after the age of 30 years. 80-90% of people above the age of 65years have osteoarthritis.
Osteoarthritis is a degenerative disease of an articular cartilage and confined to synovial joint. It can affect any moveable joint in the body.
RISK FACTORS FOR DEVELOPING OSTEOARTHRITIS
1. Age: The older you grow, the higher the chance of developing osteoarthritis.
2. Previous trauma to the joint.
3. Obesity
4. Job requiring heavy labour and bending.
5. Positive family history
6. Disorder of the bone eg avascular necrosis
7. After the age of 55years, the chance of developing osteoarthritis is higher in women than men.
X-RAY FINDINGS IN OSTEOARTHRITIS
- Loss of joint space
- Osteophyte formations
- Sclerosis of subchondrial bone
TREATMENT
There is no specific treatment for osteoarthritis. However, conservative treatment includes the use of:
- Paracetamol
- NSAIDs
- Regular exercise
- Physiotherapy
- Lifestyle modification with weight loss
- Use of walking aid
Surgical options include:
Arthrodesis: This is also called joint fusion. The goal of this surgical procedure to hold a joint in a fixed position thereby dramatically reducing pain.
Osteotomy
Joint replacement
REFERENCES
- Bailey and Love’s Short Practice of Surgery
- Compendium of Clinical Medicine by A.O. Falase and O.O. Akinkugbe
Dr. Adeyemo Olusola is a medical graduate of Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ogun State, Nigeria along with certificate in advanced diploma in Principles of Nutrition, Management and Leadership, Dublin and Certificate in Global Health from London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. In addition to his numerous certifications, he is a certified Telemedicine Physician from Harvard Medical School, USA. He is an avid reader of books from different oases of life, expert in Medical Statistics and an award winner at both local and international level. “So many a time, I have seen people die avoidable death because of lack of knowledge or information, falling victim of fate. There is then a necessity laid on us to help arm our society to the teeth, as a healthy society cannot be detached from an informed one. Hence, there is need for healthgist.net. We hope you will have a wonderful stay on our website.”
