Hip & Knee Injuries

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Hip and Knee Arthritis:

Many different types of arthritis can affect the hip and knee joints, but the most common of these is osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis is essentially a gradual "wear and tear" type joint destruction that is manifest by pain, swelling, and loss of function. It usually affects people in their senior years, but can occasionally occur in middle age.

Initial treatment for osteoarthritis of the hip or knee is conservative, consisting of rest, avoidance of vigorous weight bearing activities, and the use of non-narcotic analgesic and or anti inflammatory medications. With worsening symptoms a cane or a knee brace may be helpful. For more severe symptoms, an injection of cortisone into the joint is frequently advised and can be quite helpful.

When conservative measures have been exhausted and are no longer helpful, and the arthritis has become disabling, surgery may be recommended. Arthroscopy is sometimes recommended for younger patients with arthritis of the knee, but long lasting benefit from arthroscopy alone is rarely achieved.

Many younger patients with mild or moderate arthritis of the hip or knee will benefit from a procedure known as osteotomy. This involves a complete cut in the bone adjacent to the hip or knee to correct deformity (i.e. bow leg or knock knee deformities) or to realign the extremity and shift weight bearing forces across the joint from areas of significant arthritic change to areas less involved in the arthritic process.

Older patients, or patients with severe arthritis, generally require total joint replacement. Total hip or total knee replacement surgery has become quite routine, and the results are generally very satisfying. While any surgery carries certain associated risks, 90 to 95% of patients undergoing total hip or knee replacement can expect to recover fully in 3 to 6 months following surgery, and return to normal or near normal activities with little or no pain. For someone with severe disabling pain from arthritis of the hip or knee, for whom even the simplest activities of daily life have become a painful burden, total joint replacement can be a blessing. It can give people a new lease on life, allowing them to enjoy normal activities and light recreation without having to pay dearly for it in the form of another miserable day or sleepless night with an aching, throbbing knee or hip.