For more information about knee anatomy, click here . The knee is commonly involved in arthritis secondary to trauma or other diseases.
Treatment begins with nonoperative modalities .
For people whose symptoms persist, a variety of operative procedures have been described, including arthroscopy , osteotomy, and joint replacement . Arthroscopy is a minimally invasive procedure which allows removal of a torn piece of cartilage or loose body. These often cause mechanical symptoms in the arthritic knee. Arthroscopy will not slow or prevent progression of arthritis, but can certainly be useful for relieving catching and locking and reducing pain in a knee where some of the cartilage remains. This is referred to as an osteotomy, and in certain patients may delay or obviate the need for total joint replacement.