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Subject Area

General Surgery

Article Type

Original Study

Abstract

Objective To evaluate the role of ultrasonography (US) in assessing knee osteoarthritis (OA) compared with radiograph. Background Similar to renal or cardiac failures, OA is considered a common disorder in the joint as an organ. High-resolution US is used increasingly in musculoskeletal medicine owing to its value in the morphological and structural assessment of soft tissue in patients with arthritis. Patients and methods This study included 50 symptomatic knee joints from 50 patients (male/female24 / 26) with the clinical diagnosis of OA; all of them had knee pain and/or swelling. All patients underwent US examination on their knees. Weight-bearing anteroposterior and lateral knee radiographs were assessed for the Kellgren and Lawrence grading along with the potential presence of patellofemoral degenerative signs. Results US findings showed irregular articular surface and narrow joint space (72.0%), marginal osteophytes (64.0%), joint effusions (88.0%), decreased cartilage thickness (32.0%), synovial thickening (20.0%), meniscal lesions (70.0%), Baker's cyst (20.0%), and ligament and tendon injury (24.0%). Soft tissue changes could not be detected in radiograph (0.0%) but were identified clearly by the US in our study, with P value less than 0.001. Joint effusion, which was detected in 44 (88.0%) knees in the US only was detected in six (12.0%) knees in radiograph, with a P value less than 0.001. Kellgren and Lawrence grades (1–3) showed an increased incidence of joint effusion and meniscal lesion in the US, where all the grade 3 cases showed joint effusions and meniscal lesions. Conclusion US is a simple and reproducible technique for the assessment of periarticular and intra-articular abnormalities involved in the pathophysiology of knee OA.

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