Displacement photography

"Doctor, I recently felt that my knee was sore and swollen, and I couldn't even walk. Have my joints deteriorated with age? In fact, "degenerative" arthritis is not caused by aging or degeneration at all. The general public is easily misled by this vague name, thinking that this is a natural aging phenomenon, and finally postponing total knee replacement surgery will think that it is saved. According to authoritative orthopedic doctors, most patients diagnosed with "degenerative" knee arthritis actually suffer from "medial friction syndrome" caused by "medial friction phenomenon". As long as it is diagnosed early, there is no need for knee replacement, and there is still a chance of cure! Even if the joint is severely deformed in the later stage, it is not necessary to accept total knee replacement. At present, there are progressive micro-reconstruction operations that can make patients regain their mobility! (Audio/Video/Photography Zheng Mingjun)

The wrong idea leads most patients to only take painkillers, supplements or injections, and treat the symptoms rather than the root cause.

Lu Shaorui, director of the International Center for the Promotion of Knee Health in Dalin Tzu Chi Hospital, said that only 65,438+00% of the "degeneration" of the knee joint has clear reasons, such as cartilage wear of the meniscus cartilage, cruciate ligament injury, impact injury of the cartilage itself, or gouty arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis and bacterial destruction of the cartilage; However, 90% of "degenerative" knee arthritis is misunderstood as a natural process of cartilage degeneration and aging. This misunderstanding leads most patients to take only painkillers, supplements or injections. These treatments are like patching paint on a leaking wall, treating the symptoms rather than the root cause, and delaying total knee replacement until it is severely deformed.

Director Lu Shaorui of the International Knee Joint Health Promotion Center of Dalin Tzu Chi Hospital said that the "medial friction syndrome" caused by "medial friction phenomenon" can be cured as long as it is diagnosed early, and there is no need for knee replacement! Degenerative knee arthritis can be divided into five clinical stages:

The course of "degenerative" knee arthritis is continuous, starting from youth, so staging is very important. Different treatment guidelines can be drawn up according to different stages, which can be divided into the following five stages clinically:

The first stage: there are symptoms of pain and swelling, and the X-ray examination is normal, but the elasticity of cartilage surface has deteriorated under arthroscopy.

The second stage: X-ray examination showed that the joint space was narrowed and the cartilage was destroyed. Under arthroscopy, not only the cartilage becomes soft, but also the air bubbles burst.

The third stage: X-ray showed obvious bony spur, narrowed joint space and O-shaped leg deformation of the patient's foot. Arthroscopy showed that the cartilage was not completely worn, but it was broken.

The fourth stage: generally 60 ~ 70 years old, X-ray examination shows that the joint space has disappeared, the cartilage has been completely polished, the bones have completely collided, and the appearance is seriously deformed.

The fifth stage: even walking is difficult. Long-term deformation causes the lateral ligament to be severely stretched, and the joint is flabby and unstable, and the injury is very serious, even to the stage of disability.

There are different treatment guidelines at different stages. Director Lu Shaorui said that the first and second stages are the best time to save! If the diagnosis is "medial friction syndrome", proper health care or arthroscopic cartilage regeneration can promote the surgical regeneration of cartilage, and 90% of patients can completely return to normal. For the third stage patients, cartilage begins to deform due to local destruction, and the angle of deformation is very important at this time. Past experience has found that if the deformation exceeds 7 degrees, it is not enough to remove the cause only through arthroscopy, and corrective surgery must be added. If the cause of "degeneration" is indeed "internal friction phenomenon", as soon as possible, when the deformation has not reached serious irreversibility, cartilage regeneration can be promoted by arthroscopic surgery to remove the cause, so that 90% of patients can return to normal life. As for the fourth and fifth stages, if you want to restore the function, there is only the choice of artificial knee replacement.