Knee Pain

What causes arthritis in the knee?

Osteoarthritis or Degenerative Joint Disease is the most common type of arthritis in the knee joint. Osteoarthritis is also known as “wear and tear arthritis” since the cartilage simply wears out. When cartilage wears away, bone rubs on bone causing severe pain and disability. The most frequent reason for osteoarthritis is genetic, since the durability of each individual’s cartilage is based on genetics.

If your parents have arthritis, you may also get it.

Trauma – can also lead to osteoarthritis. A bad fall or blow to the knee can injure the joint. If the injury does not heal properly, extra force may be placed on the joint, which over time can cause the cartilage to wear away.

Inflammatory Arthritis – swelling and heat (inflammation) of the joint lining causes a release of enzymes which soften and eventually destroy the cartilage. Rheumatoid arthritis, Lupus and psoriatic arthritis are inflammatory in nature.

What is the difference between total knee replacement and unicompartmental knee resurfacing?

Knee replacement is removing the edges of the joint that have been diseased by degeneration or trauma. The only part of the joint that is resurfaced is the end of the bone that is diseased

In unicompartmental knee resurfacing only the diseased half of the joint is replaced and the other half remains as such. This is usually done when only one half of the joint is involved while the other half is well preserved and the ligaments.