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Joint Arthritis
ARTHRITS
Arthritis is the condition when the joint becomes progressively painful and stiff. Over time and without proper treatment, it is likely the joint will continue to lose the movement in it. Subsequently, this will reduce the function of that part of the body, e.g. difficulty of walking and mobility in the leg arthritis, reduce ability to use the arm in the upper limb arthritis. Also, severe arthritis will have a significant negative impact on various aspect of the patient life like night sleep disturbance, job loss, inability to do sport or hobbies and ultimately loss of independency.
Two common types of joint arthritis are explained briefly below;
1. OSTEOARTHRITS
The most common type of arthritis is what we call “Osteoarthritis”. It can be described simply as “wear & tear” degeneration of the articular cartilage. This cartilage is a smooth, glistening layer that coats the ends of the bone within any one joint, like what we see at the end of a chicken bone. It acts as slippery pads in between the two bones of the joint to make them easy to move. This layer is wearing thin in the arthritis, and sometimes disappears completely in severe cases.
The causes of osteoarthritis are variable and it could be a combination of any of them. By far the most common cause is due to the natural process of aging of the articular cartilage, and this called “Primary Osteoarthritis”. However in some other case, the cartilage will start to degenerate and wearing this –even in the young people- as a result of direct injury to it, like trauma, fracture, infection. This form of osteoarthritis then called “Secondary Osteoarthritis”.
2. INFLAMMTORY ARTHRITIS
This is another common type of arthritis. The typical and well known example is “Rheumatoid Arthritis”. In this condition the body's immune system mistakenly attacks and destroys the joint. Other and rather less common example here is “Gout”. The cause of Gout is a build up of uric acid (urate) in your blood which sometimes can result to microscopic crystals to form, usually in a joint or in the surrounding tissue. These crystals trigger a reaction from your immune system, which causes acute inflammation of the joint.
Treatment
The articular cartilage does not have the ability to regenerate itself. That means when it wears away or is damaged; it is permanent (gone for good). In the current medical and surgical practices, all kinds of treatment are simply aiming to achieve the followings at various degree of success;
1. Control the symptoms of arthritis (mainly is pain)
2. Recover and maintain the movement of the joint
A) Non-operative treatments
This option includes all treatment methods but short of performing a surgical operation on the patient. They are for example analgesia tablets, arthritis tablets, joint injections, physiotherapy, hydrotherapy and others alike. In most of the arthritis cases, they tend to be the first line of treatment, depending on individual circumstances. However, if that proves to be unsuccessful, then the next line of treatment to be considered and discussed with the patient is the “Operative Treatment”.
B) Operative treatments
There are various option and techniques available. Any one option will be discussed with the patient subject to many factors. Broadly the options are;
1. Joint Debridement
2. Joint re-alignment
3. Joint fusion
4. Joint replacement
5. Joint Excision
Some of these operations can be done as a keyhole surgery (Day Surgery), and some needs open surgery with staying in the hospital for few days.
Mr. Ayoub will provide relevant information about Pro’s & Con’s, success rate and the likely recovery course for each treatment option suitable to your condition. You will be able to make your choice of the treatment based on an informed consent.
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