Osteoarthritis of the Knee in Athletes

As stated earlier, the patient admitting challenge was right total knee replacement related to history of osteoarthritis as evidenced by unrelieved pain. Osteoarthritis (OA) is a disease that “results from cartilage damage that triggers a metabolic response at the level of the chondrocytes” (Lewis, Dirksen, Heitkemper, Barry, Goldsworthy & Goodridge, 2011, p. 1881). As it progress, it causes the cartilage to become “dull, yellow, and granular” instead of being “smooth, white, translucent” (Lewis et al., 2011; Gulanick & Myers, 2014, p. 1881).As a result, it eventually becomes softer, less elastic, and less capable to resist wear during heavy use. Moreover, as the “central cartilage becomes thinner, cartilage and bony growth increases at the joint margins … that results to uneven distribution of stress across the joint” that contributes to a decrease in motion. (Lewis et al., 2011; Gulanick & Myers, 2014, p. 1882). According to this patient, OA has been giving her pain for about two years that lead her to the decision of having the knee replacement.

With an ever increasing number of people becoming involved with athletic activities, there is an increasing number of injuries occurring which can be devastating for the individual. Most of the injuries that affect athletes occur in one of four structures in the human body: bones, muscles, tendons, or ligaments. Because ligaments attach bone to bone and play a major part in providing stability for joints, the major stabilizing ligament in the knee, the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), assists in performing everyday actions of the human body including sitting, standing, walking, running, dancing, and participating in other sports. The injury that specifically affects this ligament is very serious and always

Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) -injury is arguably the most common serious knee injury related to sports participation. Approximately 5000 individuals suffer an ACL injury in Sweden every year (Lohmander 2007). Individuals with a history of injury to their anterior cruciate ligament or menisci were shown to develop knee OA 10 to 20 years post injury (Lohmander, 2007).

Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common form of arthritis. The prevalent population suffering from OA is the elderly, but it may afflict a person of any age, especially upon injury of the joint. This ailment will usually affect loan bearing joints such as the knee or hips, but it can affect any joint. OA is the breakdown of the protective cartilage within the joint, and the patient will suffer from pain, swelling and/or stiffness of the joint, and a decreased range of motion at the joint. These symptoms can have a debilitating effect on a patient by making menial tasks suck as walking, climbing stairs, or even rising out of bed or a chair difficult. Currently, there are various treatment options available for OA but no cure exists; therefore,

Osteoarthritis knee is the common form of arthritis; it causes degeneration of knee joints. It develops when cartilage, the lining of joints that allows smooth movement between opposing bones, starts to break down, especially in the elderly. Swelling and inflammation in the affected knee joint are a major cause of pain and disability.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a chronic degenerative and progressive condition affecting synovial joints, which mainly causes degeneration of hyaline cartilage; Although OA can affect any joint containing hyaline cartilage; Its effects take place most often in the weight bearing joints of lower extremities and the most common large joints involved are knee joints [1].

It was determined that there 83 (9%) knees with radiographic OA and 20 (2%) knees with symptomatic OA. There was an association found between hours per day spent doing heavy physical activity and risk for radiographic knee OA with the unadjusted analyses. In those participating in ≥4 hours/day heavy physical activity, the OR for men was 6.4 (95% CI 1.4-30) and 5.1 (95% CI 0.9-29) for women. An increase in risk was not observed in the moderate and light physical activity groups. This association increased further when adjusting for sex, age, BMI, weight loss, knee injury, and smoking. When adjusting for these variables, the OR increased to 7.0 (95% CI 2.4-20) with a P < 0.0002. When adjusting for sex, females participating in ≥4 hours/day heavy physical activity had the greater OR than males. Females had an OR of 9.0 (95% CI 1.7-48) and males had an OR of 7.0 (95% CI 1.7-29). It was also found that ≥3 hours of habitual physical activity per day lead to an OR of 5.3 (95% CI 1.2-24) with a P < 0.001 in symptomatic knee OA. These results lead to the conclusion that heavy physical activity is associated with an increased risk of

The problems that are identified in 56-year-old Jonathon are painful, swollen, erythematous of the knee with periarticular involvement, high blood pressure of 191/112, high cholesterol of 300 mg/dl, and obesity. The differential diagnoses for Jonathon are osteoarthritis, acute monoarthritis, and Gout. I believe that Jonathan’s primary diagnosis is osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis is a degenerative joint disease that affects cartilage between bones, which may restrict movement and leads to pain, stiffness, swelling, and inflammation (Thakur, Mande, & Mitra (2014). According to Kullich, Overbeck, & Spiegel (20130, osteoarthritis is associated with pain with weight bearing, but it can be experienced during rest as the disease become more advanced. Being that Jonathan is a retired mechanic, his knee problem could have stemmed from his previous occupation and his knee possibly developed normal wear and tear due to frequent required bending from his last job. Jonathan weighs 310 lbs, his problem could have

Osteoarthritis is a type of arthritis in the knee that is most common to receive. This is a joint disease that mostly affects the cartilage. This arthritis only affects the joints. The cartilage is a slippery tissue that cover the ends of the bones in a joint. It is known as a wear and tear type of arthritis that occurs in people over the age of 50. However, it can occur to people younger than the age of 50 too. For this type of arthritis the top layer of the cartilage breaks down, which causes the slippery tissue to wear away. What happens then is that the bones of the joints rub closely against each other with less of the cartilage.

Osteoarthritis indicates joint disorders, characterized by symptoms of pain and stiffness. It includes metabolic processes of destruction and reparation. Osteoarthritis is classified as primary (idiopathic) or secondary, according to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. primary OA of the knee is a process of degeneration of the articular surface occurs without an obvious underlying abnormality. The manifestations of OA arise from high stresses on the normal joints or normal stresses on weakened joints, increasing in severity and frequency with age. The most commonly affected joints with osteoarthritis are large, weight-bearing joints, such as the knee and hip, and also smaller joints in the hands, feet. Unfortunately, treating articular

Osteoarthritis is the most common joint disorder, and more than half of all Americans who are older than 65 have been diagnosed with osteoarthritis. However, recent US data has revealed knee osteoarthritis does not discriminate age, and there is growing evidence that osteoarthritis affects individuals at a young age. The annual cost of osteoarthritis due to treatment and loss of productivity in the US is estimated to be more than 65 billion dollars.1 With no cure currently available for osteoarthritis, current treatments focus on management of symptoms. The primary goals of therapy include improved joint function, pain relief, and increased joint stability. Although the exact cause of osteoarthritis is unknown, many risk factors have been identified including increased age, female gender, obesity, and trauma.2 Within these risk factors, the etiology of osteoarthritis has been divided into anatomy, body mass, and gender.

Lim SY and Peh WCG (2008) : Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Sports Injuries of the Knee : Annals Academy of Medicine; 37(4) :354-361.

OA is a musculoskeletal disease that causes chronic joint pain and reduced physical functioning (Laba, brien, Fransen, & jan, 2013). Osteoarthritis (OA) is a non-inflammatory disorder of synovial joints that results in loss of hyaline cartilage and remodeling of surrounding bone. OA is the single most common joint disease, with an estimated prevalence of 60% in men and 70% in women later in life after the age of 65 years, affecting an estimated 40 million people in the United States (Goodman & Fuller, 2009). Women are more commonly affected after the age of 55, almost everyone has some symptoms by the age of 70 (Tan, Zahara, Colburn & Hawkins, 2013, p.78). Osteoarthritis can be described radiological, clinical, or subjective.

Biomechanics is a field that looks into the structure and function of biological systems such as humans; it can be used in numerous fields. It ranges from aiding in sports performance to helping people with daily tasks such as walking. Majority of sport related occur in the lower extremities. Lower extremities include the hip, knee and ankle joints and the femur, tibia, fibula, and multiple foot bones. This paper will focus on the role of the ACL, how it is injured, and the rehabilitation process. While each component of the lower extremity has its own role, the knee is the most complex. The knee joint performs various functions and carries most of the weight of the upper body. There are four ligaments in the knee joint: the anterior

Surgery, particularly total knee replacement, is recommended for those with severe disease. Total knee replacement is a cost effective treatment for end-stage osteoarthritis of the knee and the rate of this procedure continues to increase, which is thought to be due to an aging society with greater functional demands [6] and hence It is an effective surgical modality that improves patient’s quality of life. It effectively relieves arthritis pain but improvement in physical function varies [7]