Sports Medicine

Knee Arthritis

Signs and Symptoms
Diagnosis
Treatment

Treatment

If left untreated, osteoarthritis generally continues to progress and worsen. Since cartilage has no direct blood supply, it usually cannot heal on its own. Younger bodies are more able than older ones to heal small areas of damaged cartilage without undergoing surgery.

The initial symptoms of early arthritis often can be treated with:

• Rest
• Ice
• Physical therapy
• Certain medications

As the disease progresses, you may want to undergo an arthroscopic evaluation, which involves inserting a viewing scope into the damaged knee through a small incision in your knee. Depending on how much cartilage has been damaged, either surgery or a total joint replacement may be required.

Additional treatments for osteoarthritis include:

• An Injection of Corticosteriod -- Injected into the affected area, this helps reduce swelling and pain.

• Arthroscopy -- This procedure removes loose fragments of worn out cartilage, removed degrading enzymes and "washes out" the knee.

• Osteotomy -- This surgery realigns the shinbone (tibia) or thighbone (femur) to improve the knee's alignment.

• Unicompartmental Knee Replacement -- This surgical procedure replaces part of the knee.

• Total Knee Replacement -- This surgical procedure removes the diseased joint and replaces the acetabluar components with either metal or plastic materials and a metal prosthesis of the femoral segment.

Most athletes with less severe arthritis usually return to some type of activity after treatment.

Reviewed by health care specialists at UCSF Medical Center.
Last updated May 8, 2007