What are the tests for osteoarthritis?

The appearance of osteoarthritis brings great physical harm to patients. There are many reasons that lead to osteoarthritis, so we have to distinguish them. We generally divide osteoarthritis into two categories, one is secondary osteoarthritis and the other is primary osteoarthritis. Once we find osteoarthritis, we must treat it in time. So how do we find osteoarthritis?

If we want to detect osteoarthritis, we must understand some of the symptoms of osteoarthritis. Of course, we can also use instrumental examinations to check whether we have osteoarthritis. So what are the examinations for osteoarthritis?

Osteoarthritis is a degenerative disease caused by many factors such as aging, obesity, strain, trauma, congenital joint abnormalities, joint deformities, etc., which leads to degeneration of articular cartilage, reactive hyperplasia of joint margins and subchondral bone. It is also called osteoarthritis, degenerative arthritis, senile arthritis, hypertrophic arthritis, etc. The clinical manifestations include slowly developing joint pain, tenderness, stiffness, joint swelling, limited movement and joint deformity.

The main symptom is joint pain, which often occurs in the morning. The pain is relieved after activity, but the pain may worsen if there is too much activity. Another symptom is joint stiffness, which often occurs when you wake up in the morning or after the joints have been in a certain position for a long time during the day. Examination of the affected joints may reveal joint swelling and tenderness, and a friction or "clicking" sound during movement. In severe cases, muscle atrophy and joint deformities may occur.

1. Laboratory examination

There are no abnormal changes in the erythrocyte sedimentation rate and blood picture. The joint fluid is usually clear, slightly yellow and has high viscosity. The white blood cell count is usually within 1.0×109/L, mainly monocytes. The mucin clots are firm.

2. Other auxiliary examinations

There are no obvious abnormalities in X-ray films in the early stage, but after about a few years, the joint space narrowing gradually appears, indicating that the articular cartilage has begun to thin. Initially, the joint space is normal when not bearing weight, but becomes narrow after bearing weight. In the later stage of the disease, the joint space is significantly narrowed, and there may be microfracture signs under the cartilage, followed by bone sclerosis. Finally, the joint edges become pointed, osteophytes are formed, and bony cysts may form under the cartilage at the weight-bearing site, which are typical signs of osteoarthritis. CT and MRI examinations can detect abnormal changes in articular cartilage and subchondral bone at an early stage.

Above, we introduced what osteoarthritis is and its clinical manifestations. We know that osteoarthritis causes great physical harm to patients, so we must promptly detect the symptoms of osteoarthritis and make effective treatments. Above, we introduced the examination of osteoarthritis in detail.