What Are Knee Osteophytes?

Bone hyperplasia of the knee joint is more common in middle-aged and elderly people, and the incidence is higher in women than in men. Sports enthusiasts are also one of the high-risk groups. Patients with osteoprosthesis of the knee joint are very painful and suffer from pain, stiffness, swelling, and limited mobility.

Basic Information

nickname

Bone palsy, crane knee wind

Visiting department

Orthopedics, general surgery

Multiple groups

Middle-aged and elderly, sports enthusiasts

Common locations

Knee joint

Common causes

Bone hyperplasia after fracture, surrounding soft tissue damage, age factors, etc.

Common symptoms

Discomfort in one or both joints, pain and swelling

Causes of knee osteogenesis

Bone hyperplasia after fracture

The form of repair after a fracture or even fragmentation is the continuous proliferation of bone cells around the wound to form an epiphysis.

2. Injury of surrounding soft tissue

Calcification and ossification can occur, affecting the periosteum and making the periosteum bone. This proliferation is pathological and can cause certain symptoms.

3. Age factor

With the increase of age, the bones of the knee joint are worn out for many years, and the surrounding ligaments are loosened, causing the joint to be unstable and causing bone hyperplasia in the corresponding part of the lesion.

Clinical manifestations of knee osteogenesis

More common in middle-aged and elderly people, the incidence of women is higher than men. It manifests as discomfort in one or both joints and painful swelling. At first, the pain is mostly when walking or going up and down stairs for a long time, but it improves after rest or bed. Slow onset knee pain is not severe, there is sustainable pain, the pain worsens when the temperature decreases, related to climate change, began to move after the morning, walked for a long time, strenuous exercise or prolonged sitting, knee pain, stiffness, After a little activity, he improved, and it was difficult to go up and down the stairs. When he went down, the knee joint was soft and easy to fall. Pain and stiffness when squatting up, severe joint pain, swelling and pain, lameness, joint redness, swelling and deformity in patients with rheumatism, limited function, popping sounds during extension and flexion, joint effusion in some patients, obvious swelling and compression in the local area phenomenon.

Examination of knee joint bone hyperplasia

1. Is the joint painful?

Osteoarthritis caused by bone hyperplasia can cause tenderness locally, especially when there is inflammatory exudation of the synovium, even if there is no tenderness, the affected knee joint can also have obvious pain when passively moving.

2. Sounds when joints move

This sign is most common in patients with knee osteodystrophy, which is manifested as a popping sound during flexion and extension of the knee joint, which may be caused by cartilage damage and joint surface irregularities.

3. Joint swelling

The cause of joint swelling is inflammation of the synovium and increased synovial fluid in the knee joint cavity.

4. Synovitis

Bone hyperplasia can lead to different degrees of synovitis, manifested by local fever, exudation, and thickening of the synovium of the knee joint. It can also be accompanied by joint tenderness, muscle weakness and atrophy.

5. Limited joint movements

Because the muscles around the knee joint are spasm or loose, joint capsule contracture, bone hyperplasia and other structural abnormalities can make the joint range of motion smaller.

6. Joint deformities and dislocations

In the later stages of the disease, affected knee joint deformities and dislocations can occur due to loss of cartilage, collapse of the subchondral bone plate, degeneration of the bone capsule, and bone hyperplasia.

7. Imaging examination

Osteophyte formation around the knee joint is accompanied by osteoporosis and osteosclerosis. The articular surface is rough, the medial tibiofemoral articular surface is affected, and the joint space is narrowed. Most of them will have narrow medial space and sacral spurs.

Diagnosis of knee osteogenesis

The diagnosis can be confirmed based on clinical manifestations and imaging examination.

Knee joint hyperplasia treatment

Symptomatic treatment

There is no effective treatment for this disease, and symptomatic treatment is often used. Such as pain can take some antipyretic analgesics or injection of sodium hyaluronate; numbness can choose B vitamins; joint swelling with fluid can be given local fluid extraction or local closure and other treatments.

Cartilage protective agents such as glucosamine sulfate can promote cartilage synthesis and inhibit the breakdown of articular cartilage, while also having anti-inflammatory effects. Sulfate contained in glucosamine sulfate is also one of the essential components for the synthesis of cartilage matrix. Such drugs can relieve pain symptoms, improve joint function, and can delay the destruction of joint structure after long-term use. Glucosamine sulfate has a slower onset of action, but the drug is safe and suitable for long-term use as a basic treatment.

2. Physical therapy

Acupuncture can pass through blood circulation and have analgesic effect, which can eliminate local edema and inflammation. Physical therapy massage can help improve local blood circulation and play an anti-inflammatory and analgesic effect. Physical therapy methods include wax therapy, hyperthermia, magnetic therapy, ultrashort wave therapy, microwave Treatment, infrared treatment, etc. can improve local microcirculation and play a role in promoting blood circulation. Traction can alleviate the compression of local nerves and tissues by bone spurs and temporarily relieve pain. But for bone hyperplasia, the above treatments can only help.

3. Surgical treatment

There are four main types of surgical treatment for knee osteogenesis:

(1) Arthroscopy treatment Under anesthesia, enter the articular cavity through the skin and put into the knee arthroscopy, remove the bone hyperplasia in the joint under direct vision, repair the articular surface, and remove the free body in the articular cavity.

(2) Tibial osteotomy. One of the causes of severe knee osteogenesis and osteoarthropathy is the change in the line of force of the lower limbs. Therefore, the force line can be changed (or adjusted) through surgical methods to achieve the purpose of treatment. Wedge-shaped osteotomy can be done under the tibial plateau, then the force line is adjusted to the normal state, and then the plaster is fixed externally.

(3) Artificial knee joint replacement For bone hyperplasia caused by severe knee osteoarthritis, which seriously affects the function of the knee joint (such as flexion and extension function) and affects daily life due to severe pain, you can consider doing Artificial knee replacement surgery.